Erich Höbarth was born in Vienna in 1956. He studied with Franz Samohyl and Sandor Vegh. He was a member of the Vegh-Quartet and an assistant at his master classes.

Höbarth was first concertmaster of the Vienna Symphony from 1980 to 1987; concertmaster and soloist with the Concertus Musicus under Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and member of the Vienna String Sextet from 1979 to 2004.

Since 1987, Höbarth has been a member of Quatuor Mosaiques. He appears frequently as a soloist with the Camerata Academica of Salzburg, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Chapelle Royal of Paris, the Baltic Philharmonia, RSO Vienna, the Vienna Symphony, and many others.

He performs chamber music with Andras Schiff, Sabine Mayer, Elisabeth Leonskaja, and Miklos Perenyi among others. He was a guest professor at the Graz University of Music and taught chamber music at the Vienna University of Music. He has been professor of the summer academy Prag-Wien-Budapest and the European Chamber Music Academy for string quartet. Since 2000, he has been the artistic director of the Camerata Bern.