ROBERT G. BRINK

BRINK, Robert G. Renowned violinist, recording artist, master teacher, and founder of chamber-music orchestras - died October 24th at age 90. A child prodigy, Mr. Brink began violin lessons when he was less than five years old. At fifteen he made his solo debut with Arthur Fielder of the Boston Pops, and soon thereafter performed his debut recital at Carnegie Hall in New York. During his long career, Robert Brink made solo, chamber music, and orchestral appearances throughout North America, Europe, Scandinavia, and Iceland. As a young man, Mr. Brink teamed-up with harpsichordist, and composer, Daniel Pinkham, and together they helped launch a new appreciation of authentic 17th and 18th century performance practice. They brought new life to works by Buxtehude, Bach, Corelli, Mozart and C.P.E Bach, and other Baroque and early classical composers. Mr. Brink was a leading soloist and concertmaster in Boston's vibrant chamber-music scene. He opted not to join a large symphonic orchestra, preferring instead to perform more intimate chamber music. Consequently, he was able to perform with scores of chamber-music ensembles throughout his long musical career. For years, Mr. Brink served as concertmaster for the Boston's famed Handel and Haydn Society, which is now celebrating its bicentennial. A 1980 article in the Boston Globe aptly stated that after decades at the center of the Boston music community, Robert Brink was "Mr. Chamber Orchestra in this city." That same year, he founded the Boston Classical Orchestra, which continues today as a vibrant professional ensemble concentrating on composers of the Classical Period, 1730 to 1830. From 1958 until his death, Mr. Brink was on the faculty of the New England Conservatory and taught generations of students, many of whom went on to prestigious careers as classical musicians at major orchestras. Approximately six months ago Mr. Brink was felled, first by pneumonia and then by a succession of other illnesses until he succumbed at the Sippican Health Center in Marion on October 24th. Mr. Brink is survived by his sister, Mary Inwood and her family, his children-Laura, Sarah, Robert, and William Brink-his daughter-in-law, Elisabeth Brink, and his grandchildren, Ben and Ellen Brink. Friends and colleagues are invited to attend a memorial of his life at 11:00 am Saturday, November 15, 2014 at the Quaker Meetinghouse, 103 Marion Road (Rt. 6), Mattapoisett, MA 02739