Born in 1961, Rainer Honeck began playing the violin at the age of seven. He studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna under Edith Bertschinger, and simultaneously received lessons from Alfred Staar, a member of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

In 1981, he was appointed concertmaster of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra, and soon after became a member of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. He was named concertmaster of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra in 1984 and assumed the same role with the Vienna Philharmonic in 1992. As concertmaster of both prestigious ensembles, Honeck's musical activities have centered around Vienna, yet his career as a soloist has taken him to major concert stages across Europe, Japan, and the United States.

He has performed with leading orchestras including the Vienna Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and the Mariinsky Orchestra of the St. Petersburg Theatre. Honeck has collaborated with renowned conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Semyon Bychkov, Adam Fischer, Daniele Gatti, Valery Gergiev, Daniel Harding, Manfred Honeck, Mariss Jansons, Riccardo Muti, Kirill Petrenko, and Michael Tilson Thomas. His discography includes solo performances as concertmaster, notably Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade with Seiji Ozawa (Philips) and Richard Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben with Christian Thielemann (Deutsche Grammophon).

Rainer Honeck is a founding member and leader of both the Wiener Virtuosen and the Vienna String Soloists. His leadership in these ensembles has naturally extended to conducting. As a conductor, he has led the Kioi Chamber Orchestra in Tokyo, the Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, the Mariinsky Orchestra, and the Malmö Symphony Orchestra.

He performs on the 1725 Stradivarius violin known as the “Chaconne,” generously loaned to him by the Austrian National Bank.

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