Dominik Wagner
Biography Dominik Wagner
Dominik Wagner
"Born in 1997 in Vienna, Dominik Wagner takes Bottesini's tonal beauty, vocal and melodic attractiveness so passionately seriously, and masters the required artistry with such breathy lightness that one would think the double bass is the softest-sounding and most virtuosic string instrument."
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, and vocal melodic delivery but also through his tireless efforts to expand the repertoire, whether through commissions or the search for rarities, he makes the double bass sound in a new variety. For example, together 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 the summer of 2023.
In just his mid-20s, Wagner is a scholarship recipient of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation and an ECHO Klassik winner. In 2022, he was awarded the Opus Klassik as Young Talent of the Year. He has also won prizes in almost all double bass competitions, including the Bradetich Foundation International Double Bass Solo Competition, the ARD International Music Competition, and the Eurovision Young Musicians Competition.
Dominik Wagner has already performed with renowned orchestras such as the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the WDR Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen 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.
In 2021 Wagner's first solo CD Giovanni Bottesini - Revolution of Bass was released by Berlin Classics. Chapters - A Double Bass Story, a recital recording together with Lauma Skride, was also released by Berlin Classics in 2023. Both the album and the concert programs feature works ranging from Bach and Schubert to Piazzolla and Mancini, showcasing Wagner's entire musical range.
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. He is also constantly searching for new timbres through new constellations. This has resulted in a duo with jazz double bassist Georg Breinschmid, as well as a clarinet trio with Vera Karner and Aurelia Visovan. With the latter, he won, among others, the Fanny Mendelssohn Förderpreis.
Wagner is also a sought-after pedagogue. Since 2023, he has held a professorship for double bass at the University of Music Würzburg. 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. Season 2023/2024, Quote: Süddeutsche Zeitung, December 6th 2021
