Mario Venzago
MARIO VENZAGO
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BIOGRAPHY
Mario Venzago served as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Bern Symphony Orchestra for 11 years until summer 2021. Previously, he held positions as Chief Conductor or General Music Director with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony, Basque National Orchestra San Sebastian, Basel Symphony Orchestra, Graz Opera and Graz Philharmonic Orchestra, the German Chamber Philharmonic Frankfurt (now Bremen), the Heidelberg Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Winterthur Musikkollegium. From 2010 to 2014, he was Principal Conductor of the Royal Northern Sinfonia, from 2010 to 2019 Artist in Association with the Finnish Tapiola Sinfonietta, and from 2000 to 2003 Artistic Director of the Baltimore Music Summer Fest, succeeding Pinchas Zukerman and David Zinman.
Mario Venzago has conducted many prestigious orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Philadelphia and Boston Orchestras, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Filarmonica della Scala, and the NHK Symphony Orchestra. He is a regular guest conductor with internationally renowned orchestras such as the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra, and Frankfurt Museum Orchestra. He has performed with the world’s most famous soloists, and has worked alongside directors such as Ruth Berghaus, Peter Konwitschny, and Hans Neuenfels.
Several of his CDs have received international awards, including the Grand Prix du Disque, the Diapason d’or, and the Prix Edison. The recordings of the operas “Venus” and “Penthesilea” as well as the recording of all choral works by Othmar Schoeck with the MDR Choir and Symphony Orchestra received great international recognition and highest honours, as did his first feature film “My Brother the Conductor” by Alberto Venzago, which was shown in cinemas across Europe and was released on DVD. With CPO, Mario Venzago published his project “The Other Bruckner”, a complete recording of all ten Bruckner symphonies, whose individual releases were highly praised by international critics. Sony Classical released the sensational recording of Venzago’s completion of Franz Schubert’s “Unfinished” with the Basel Chamber Orchestra and the complete recording of Johannes Brahms’ serenades and symphonies. Other recordings from recent years include Othmar Schoeck’s opera “Schloss Dürande” in a new version with the Bern Symphony Orchestra and the cantata “Vom Fischer und syner Fru” with the Winterthur Musikkollegium (both on Claves).
Most recently, 2022 saw the release on Prospero of the reconstructed 7th Symphony of Schubert with the Bern Symphony Orchestra, a suite from Bernard Herrmann’s “Wuthering Heights” with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra on Chandos Records, and with the same orchestra, Paganini’s 1st Violin Concerto featuring the 15-year-old Chloe Chua (Penta Tone/ Naxos).
In addition to his work as a conductor, Mario Venzago has in recent years increasingly devoted himself to his passion for composition. In 2021, he premiered his Violin Concerto with Soyoung Yoon and the Bern Symphony Orchestra. Currently, various works, including two operas, are being prepared for publication by Universal Edition.
2025/2026
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