MARIO HOSSEN is a violinist and conductor of wide international acclaim. At the age of 8 he made his debut on stage as a soloist of the Plovdiv Philharmonic. He continued his studies at the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts in the class of prof. Michael Frischenschlager and graduated with a prize of the Austrian Ministry of Culture, later specializing in Paris under Gerard Poulet. He obtained Austrian citizenship and has lived in Vienna since 1991, actively performing around the world and teaching in Bulgaria and abroad. His performances of Paganini’s Six Concertos and 24 Capriccios and Beethoven’s Violin Sonatas are particularly popular. He is the editor and researcher of Paganini’s complete works for violin and orchestra for one of the oldest music publishers, Musikverlag – Doblinger, Vienna. He has recorded his own performances of world premieres of works by Paganini for the Italian record company Dynamic.
The virtuoso violinist Mario Hossen has performed with renowned orchestras such as the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic, the Academy St. Martin in the Fields, the Bruckner Orchestra Linz, the Royal Philharmonic, the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of the Moscow Radio, the Symphony Orchestra of the Bulgarian National Radio, etc. He has given concerts and made recordings with with outstanding musicians like Adrian Oetiker, Philippe Bernold, Jean-Bernard Pommier, Bruno Canino, Israel Yinon, Milena Mollova, Vladimir Fedoseyev – among other. He is conductor of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, artistic director of the Concert Spirituel – Vienna concert series, founder and artistic director of the Orpheus International Music Academy and the Joseph Haydn Music Festival.
Mario Hossen is Professor Emeritus of Violin at New Bulgarian University and Visiting Professor in Japan with a distinguished teaching career; his students have won high prizes at competitions and festivals in Europe and Asia. He has been awarded the prestigious Sofia Prize for Music and the Radio FM Classic Award. He plays a violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, 1749, on loan from the Austrian National Bank collection. He is an artist of Thomastik Infeld – Vienna.
Since 2019 he is the artistic director of the Varna Summer International Music Festival, which became the winner of the Audience Award of the European Festival Association for 2019/20.