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DOUBLE BASS

Dominik Wagner

Dominik Wagner, born in Vienna in 1997, takes Bottesini's sonic beauty, vocal quality and melodic appeal so passionately seriously and masters the required artistry with such breathtaking ease that one would like to consider the double bass the softest-sounding and most virtuosic string instrument.

Dominik Wagner strives to free his instrument from its obscure existence and showcase new facets of the double bass. He succeeds not only with his captivating stage presence, impressive virtuosity, and vocal melodic delivery. His tireless commitment to expanding the repertoire, whether through commissions or the search for rarities, also allows the double bass to resonate in a new variety. For example, with his father, the composer Wolfram Wagner, he arranged Dvořák's fragments of the Cello Concerto in A major into the Double Bass Concerto in D major, which he premiered at the KKL Lucerne in summer 2023.

At just his mid-20s, Wagner is a scholarship holder of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation and an ECHO Klassik winner. In 2022, he was awarded the Opus Klassik as a young artist. He is also a prizewinner in almost every double bass competition, including the Bradetich Foundation International Double Bass Solo Competition, the ARD International Music Competition, and the Eurovision Young Musicians Competition.

Dominik Wagner has performed with renowned orchestras such as the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the West German Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, and the Camerata Salzburg in concert halls in Vienna (Musikverein and Konzerthaus), Berlin (Konzerthaus and Philharmonie), Munich (Herkulessaal and Gasteig), Hamburg (Elbphilharmonie), and New York (Carnegie Hall). He is associated with the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra as a WKO Young Artist.

In 2021, his first solo CD, "Giovanni Bottesini - Revolution of Bass," was released on the Berlin Classics label. Since then, he has released two more CDs on the same label: "Chapters - A Double Bass Story," a duo repertoire with Lauma Skride, and "Double Bass Rhapsody," original arrangements for double bass solo and double bass ensemble.

In addition to his solo activities, Dominik is a passionate chamber musician. He has had the opportunity to work with musicians such as the Emerson String Quartet, the Danish String Quartet, Isabel Faust, Tabea Zimmermann, Gerhard Schultz, and Elisabeth Leonskaja. He also seeks to expand the repertoire and create new ensembles with new repertoire. This has led to constellations such as the duo with jazz double bassist Georg Breinschmid and the clarinet trio with Vera Karner and Aurelia Visovan. With the latter, he won the Fanny Mendelssohn Award, among others.

Wagner is also a sought-after pedagogue; he has been a professor at the Würzburg University of Music since 2023 and regularly gives master classes in Europe and the USA, at institutions such as the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, the Julliard School New York and UNT Texas.

Dominik Wagner initially trained as a cellist before switching to double bass in 2007. His four years in the Vienna Boys' Choir left a lasting musical impact. From 2009 to 2015, he studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, and from 2015 to 2022, he studied with Prof. Dorin Marc at the Nuremberg University of Music. Since 2023, he has been part of the Professional Studies Program at Kronberg Academy.

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