Erich Pizka

Austrian hornist and composer (1914 - 1996) Erich Pizka attended elementary and secondary school in Linz and then began an apprenticeship as a machine fitter. In addition to his apprenticeship, he first took horn lessons from Josef Wich in Linz , he also had violin lessons for several years and became a violinist member of the Linz concert association during his apprenticeship as a locksmith. His horn teacher Wich was a student of Josef Schantl . After completing his apprenticeship, Pizka was a military musician as a horn player. He took up his first position as solo horn player in 1939 in the orchestra of the Linzer Landestheater (now the Bruckner Orchester Linz ), but was only able to do this for a short time because he was called up for military service. During the war he was stationed in Metz for most of the time , where he was a member of an air force orchestra and played in the Metz Symphony Orchestra and as a temporary worker in the Saarbrücken theater. After the war he returned to his post in Linz. Pizka also had a teaching position at the Anton Bruckner Conservatory in Linz. During this time he also composed and arranged pieces for horn ensemble. In 1969 Pizka withdrew from the orchestra, but kept his teaching post at the conservatory until 1979. His son Hans Pizka is also a world-famous horn player.