Austrian born conductor, Mario Dobernig is Conductor in Chief and Artistic director for the Preston Symphony Orchestra, Victoria Chorale and the Ballarat Wind Orchestra. He is also guest conductor for the Barrier Reef Orchestra in Townsville, the Ballarat Symphony Orchestra and Music Director for Melbourne’s Music in the City. His recordings have been featured on 3MBS, SBS and ABC Classic FM and internationally on ORF (Austria) and YLE (Finland).
Career highlights include assistant conductor to Sir Andrew Davis and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for the Percy Grainger Project which is also on CD release with CHANDOS. A critically acclaimed production of Stravinsky’s Histoire du Soldat for the Woodend Winter Arts Festival which was also recorded by ABC Classic FM, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto, Dvorak’s New World Symphony in Townsville, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1, Schumann’s Symphony No. 1, Schubert’s “Great”, Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, Carl Vine’s Percussion Symphony, Debussy’s L’apres midi d’une faune, Orff’s Carmina Burana and Mahler Symphony No. 1 with organisations such as Youth Philharmonic Melbourne, Monash University Choral Society, Orchestra 21, VCA Symphony Orchestra and a highly successful tour of Austria with the Ballarat Wind Orchestra.
Mario Dobernig has recently completed his PhD at the University of Melbourne and he also holds Masters degrees in Conducting, Percussion and Musicology from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, University of Helsinki and the Kunstuniversität Graz, Austria. His scholarships and awards include the Melbourne International Research Scholarship and Melbourne International Postgraduate Research Scholarship from the University of Melbourne, and from Kunstuniversität Graz, the “Leistungsstipendium” and the “Förderstipendium”.
Mario Dobernig is a specialist in avant-garde music and as a professional percussionist has toured China, Austria, Germany, Finland, Estonia, Croatia, Italy, Australia and Canada for companies such as Graz Opera, Finnish Radio Symphony, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Avanti! Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonia Jyväskylä and Kuopio Symphony Orchestra.
For the 2013/14 season works include Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos No’s 2 and 3; Handel Messiah; Vivaldi Gloria; Mozart Requiem with Joanna Cole, Sally Anne-Russell, Roy Best and Jud Arthur; Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition; Schubert Symphony No. 5; Schumann Symphony No. 4; Saint-Saens Christmas Oratorio; Elgar Violin Concerto; Dvorak Cello Concerto; Beethoven Eroica, Symphony No. 7 and Violin Concerto; Haydn Nelson Mass and Faure Requiem; and he will also lead an extensive tour of China performing in major centres such as Beijing, Shanghai and Xuzhou.