Richard Tognetti

The Australian violinist and conductor Richard Tognetti has established an inter- national reputation for his compelling performances and artistic individualism. He studied at the Sydney Conservatorium with Alice Waten, in his home town of Wollongong with William Primrose, and at the Bern Conservatory (Switzerland) with Igor Ozim, where he was awarded the Tschumi Prize as the top graduate soloist in 1989. Later that year he led several performances of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and that November was appointed as the orchestra’s lead 8 violin and, subsequently, artistic director.
Tognetti performs on period, modern and electric instruments. His numerous arrangements, compositions and transcriptions have expanded the chamber orch- estra repertoire and been performed throughout the world. Highlights of his career as director, soloist or chamber music partner include the Sydney Festival (as conductor of Mozart’s opera Mitridate), and appearances with the Handel & Haydn Society (Boston), Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Camerata Salz- burg, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Irish Chamber Orchestra and Nordic Chamber Orch- estra. He is currently artistic director of the Maribor Festival in Slovenia.
As a soloist Richard Tognetti has appeared on many occasions with the Aus- tralian Chamber Orchestra and with the major Australian symphony orchestras, giving the Australian première of Ligeti’s Violin Concerto with the Sydney Sym- phony in 1998. In 2003 he was co-composer of the score for Peter Weir’s Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, violin tutor for its star, Russell Crowe, and can also be heard performing on the award-winning soundtrack. In 2005, together with Michael Yezerski, he co-composed the soundtrack to Tom Carroll’s surf film Horrorscopes and, in 2008, created The Red Tree, inspired by illustrator Shaun Tan’s book. Richard Tognetti holds honorary doctorates from three Australian universities and was made a National Living Treasure in 1999.