Dominik Wagner
Listening to Dominik Wagner's performance of Bach's Chaconne on the strings, one can experience how the young double bassist creates new sound spaces for his instrument with dedication and a brilliant understanding of sound design. An ECHO and Opus Klassik award winner, the Vienna-born virtuoso has already thrilled audiences in the most prestigious halls, including the Musikverein in Vienna, the Philharmonie in Berlin and Carnegie Hall in New York.
About the artist
Virtuose am Kontrabass
Dominik Wagner aims to liberate his instrument from its existence in the shadow of the cello and present new facets of the double bass. He succeeds not only with an engaging stage presence, impressive virtuosity, vocal and melodic delivery, but also through his tireless efforts to expand the repertoire, whether through new commissions or arrangements.
Career
Born in 1997 in Vienna, Wagner is a scholarship recipient of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation and prize winner of the ECHO Klassik and Opus Klassik awards. He has also won prizes at almost all double bass competitions, including the Bradetich Foundation International Double Bass Solo Competition, the ARD International Music Competition, the International Markneukirchen Competition, the International J.M. Sperger Competition, the International Osaka Competition and the Eurovision Young Musicians Competition.
As a soloist Dominik Wagner has performed with renowned orchestras such as the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the WDR Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, and the Camarata Salzburg in concert halls in Berlin (Konzerthaus and Philharmonie), Vienna (Musikverein and Konzerthaus), Munich (Herkulessaal and Gasteig), Hamburg (Elbphilharmonie), and New York (Carnegie Hall), among others. He is associated with the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra as a WKO Young Artist.
Recordings
In 2021, Wagner's first solo CD "Giovanni Bottesini - Revolution of Bass" was released by Berlin Classics. It was followed by two more albums, "Chapters - A Double Bass Story," duo repertoire with Lauma Skride, and "Double Bass Rhapsody," a set of his own arrangements for double bass solo and ensemble. He was also part of many chamber music recordings.
Chamber musician
In addition to his solo activities, Dominik is a passionate chamber musician. He has played with musicians like the Emerson String Quartet, the Danish String Quartet, Isabel Faust, Tabea Zimmermann, Gerhard Schulz, and Elisabeth Leonskaja. To expand the repertoire further, he is constantly searching for new timbres through new constellations, one of them being the clarinet trio with Vera Karner and Aurelia Visovan, with which he won the Fanny Mendelssohn Förderpreis.
Pedagogue
Wagner is also a sought-after pedagogue. Since 2023 he has held a professorship for double bass at the University of Music Würzburg, since 2024 his second professorship at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Also, he regularly gives masterclasses in Europe and the US, which have led him to institutions like the Juilliard School New York, the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, and the UNT Texas.
Dominik Wagner first learned the cello before switching to the double bass in 2007. His four years in the concert choir of the Vienna Boys Choir were a formative musical influence. 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 University of Music Nürnberg. Since 2023, he has been part of the Professional Studies program of the Kronberg Academy.
