Paganini Ensemble Vienna
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The Paganini Ensemble Vienna has been appointed as a European Paganini Route “EPR Ambassador” with the artistic mission to raise awareness of this significant musical heritage, preserve the legacy of the great Italian composer.
The Paganini Ensemble Vienna was founded in 2019 by Mario Hossen with the aim of becoming one of the first ensembles dedicated primarily to the chamber music of Niccolò Paganini. The ensemble presents rarely-performed repertoire, offering its audiences unique insights into Paganini’s extensive oeuvre for the violin, guitar, viola, and violoncello, using historically informed performance.
Between 2021-2024, the ensemble performed throughout Europe, Canada and China at prestigious venues, including the Auditorio Nacional de Música Madrid, the Musikverein and Konzerthaus Vienna; at important cultural centers in Montreal, Warsaw, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Santander, Burgos; and at international music festivals and concert series like Paganini Festival Genova(Italy), Vilnius Festival(Lithuania), Ghent Festival (Belgium), Capuchos Music Festival (Portugal), Liszt Festival Raiding, Concert Spirituel Vienna, Kirchklang Festival Salzkammergut, Gitarrenfestival Millstatt, Jeunesse (Austria), Cantus Firmus European Festival Sofia, International Music Festival Varna Summer (Bulgaria), Musikfest Goslar (Germany), Klanglichter Sissach (Switzerland), Classic’A Saint-Raphaël(France), Collingwood Music Festival (Canada) among others.
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The Paganini Ensemble Vienna enthusiastically promotes contemporary music and has given world- premieres of many works dedicated to the ensemble by acclaimed composers, such as Rainer Bischof, Gheorgi Arnaoudov, Rudolf Leopold, Richard Duenser, Milko Kolarov and Gabriele Proy.
The ensemble has been commissioned by a leading Italian record label „Dynamic“ to record the complete works of Paganini‘s chamber music oeuvre. As a result of this project, the ensemble has also uncovered fascinating new parallels within the works of other major classical, romantic and modern composers, many of whom had been inspired by the music of Paganini.
The members of the ensemble are in continuous contact with several prominent institutions dedicated to furthering the life and music of Niccolò Paganini, including the Paganini Society of Genova, Italy and the Biblioteca Casanatense in Rome, where many of the composer‘s original manuscripts are located. They also consult with distinguished musicologists such as Dr. Maria Teresa Dellabora and Dr. Danilo Prefumo.
The Paganini Ensemble motto is that Paganini’s works not only showcase technical virtuosity and intense passion but also convey tenderness, pathos, and joy. These elements are essential to a better understanding of Niccolò Paganini‘s music, as the composer once said:
„We must strongly feel to make others feel”