Mario Venzago, Conductor
After 7 extremely successful years Swiss-born conductor Mario Venzago resigned as Music Director of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in 2009.
From 2000-2003 he served as Artistic Director of the Summer Music Fest with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. From 2004-2007
Maestro Venzago was principal conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra in Sweden. Mario Venzago has previously held posts as Music Director of the Basel Symphony Orchestra
(1997-2003), Principal Guest Conductor of the Malmö Symphony Orchestra
(2001-03) and Music Director of the Basque Euskadi National Orchestra in Spain (1998-2001), the Graz Opera House in Austria (1990-1995), the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie in Frankfurt/Bremen (1989-1992), and the Heidelberg Opera (1986-1989).
A regular visitor to Europe’s leading orchestras and opera houses,
Mario Venzago`s distinguished conducting career has included engagements with the Berlin Philharmonic, Berlin’s Komische Oper, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra,
the Munich Philharmonic and the Munich Bavarian Radio Orchestra, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the London Philharmonic,the BBC London, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich, the Vienna Symphony, the NHK Symphony in Tokyo, the symphony orchestras of Copenhagen, Helsinki and Paris. He has also conducted, among other prestigious festivals, at the Salzburg Festival and at the Festival in Lucerne, Switzerland. He was personally invited by Kurt Masur to perform with the Hannover Radio-Philharmonic in Leipzig.
In North America he has appeared with the Boston Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony, the New Jersey Symphony, the National Arts Center Orchestra of Ottawa and the Florida Philharmonic. In March 1995, he conducted the Baltimore Symphony on short notice, a success leading to a very close relationship with that orchestra, including subscription concerts each year since 1995, the opening of the 2000-01 season, and his artistic directorship of the summer festival 2000-03.
Mario Venzago`s American debut took place in 1988 at the invitation of Leonard Bernstein, at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute Orchestra.
Maestro Venzago´s varied discography has earned him several major awards, including the Diapason d´or, two Grand Prix du Disque, and the Edison Prize. With the Basel Symphony he has recorded for Novalis the complete symphonic works of Schumann and Othmar Schoeck´s opera Penthesilea for Pan Classics and Venus (Musikszene Schweiz). A very special CD dedicated to the symphonic works of Luigi Nono on the Col legno label has recently been released in the United States . His latest recording with the MDR choir and orchestra (the complete choral work of Othmar Schoeck) was highly awarded as was the movie about Maestro Venzago released in 2007, "My Brother the Conductor" by Alberto Venzago . Future recording projects include choral/orchestral works of Schumann, the Bruckner Symphonies, all orchestra works of Alban Berg (with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra) and Swedish composers. He has collaborated with famous stage directors Ruth Berghaus, Peter Konwitschny and most recently Hans Neuenfels with whom he presented the 2007 production of Pentheseilea at the Basel Theatre to great acclaim from the international press.
Mario Venzago was born in 1948 in Zurich, Switzerland. He began playing piano at age five, attended the conservatory and the university in Zurich and continued his studies with Hans Swarowsky in Vienna. For 10 years he toured and recorded extensively as a concert pianist and accompanist. He also worked for the radio network in Lugano.
Maestro Venzago began his career on the podium in 1978 as principal conductor of the Winterthur City Orchestra. He later led the Lucerne Opera House and served as principal conductor for the broadcast recordings of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva until 1986.
Mr. Venzago performs with many renowned artists of the world`s concert stage including Argerich, Bell, Freire, Josefowicz, Kremer, Lang Lang, Levin, Lupu, Maisky, Mutter, Nicolet, Ohlsson, Pletnev, Shaham, Steuerman, Tetzlaff, Vengerow, Zehetmair, K.Zimerman, F.P.Zimmermann and many of the world`s finest singers such as Araiza, Banse, Baltsa, Häfliger, Heppner, Kalisch, Naef, Moser, Popp and Ziesak.
Mr. Venzago lives in Heidelberg with his wife Marianne and son Gabriel where he spends his free time composing.