Univ.-Prof.
Martin Grubinger
Martin Grubinger studied at the Bruckner Conservatory in Linz and at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, but already received international attention as a youngster at international competitions, including the second World Marimba Competition in Okaya and the EBU Competition in Norway. He has since gone on to forge an international career as one of the leading percussionists of our times, regularly performing as a soloist with renowned orchestras across the world. Grubinger has been a lecturer at the Zurich University of the Arts since 2015, and Professor of Classical Percussion & Multipercussion at the Mozarteum University since 2018.
Technical mastery, infectious energy and exceptional musical versatility have made Martin Grubinger one of the world’s leading multipercussionists. His repertoire ranges from solo works and chamber programmes with his Percussive Planet Ensemble to major concerto appearances. The Austrian musician has played a key role in establishing percussion as a central solo instrument on the classical concert stage.
Commissioned works such as Avner Dorman’s Frozen in Time (2007), Friedrich Cerha’s Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra (2008)—performed with the Vienna Philharmonic under Peter Eötvös in 2012 and later released on the Kairos label—and Tan Dun’s drum concerto Tears of Nature (2012) have been important milestones in his collaborations with leading orchestras. In spring 2014 he gave the world premiere of Peter Eötvös’s percussion concerto Speaking Drums with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. New concertos by Fazıl Say and Daníel Bjarnason followed in the 2018/19 season. Grubinger’s large-scale percussion projects, including The Percussive Planet, Century of Percussion and Caribbean Showdown, further demonstrate the breadth of his artistry.
In the 2016/17 season he was Artist in Residence at the Elbphilharmonie, with further residencies at Camerata Salzburg, the Kölner Philharmonie, the Vienna Konzerthaus and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. Martin Grubinger has appeared to great acclaim with orchestras including the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra Taiwan, NDR Symphony Orchestra Hamburg, the Munich, Dresden and Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestras, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Philharmonic. He is also a regular guest with leading American orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the New York Philharmonic.
A favourite with audiences at major festivals, he has performed at the Rheingau Music Festival, Heidelberger Frühling, Bregenz Festival, Beethovenfest Bonn, Lucerne Festival and the Salzburg Festival, as well as at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the Brass & Percussion Festival at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago. In 2013 he was named Artiste Étoile of the Lucerne Festival. Grubinger has received numerous awards, including the Bernstein Award of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and the Würth Prize of Jeunesses Musicales Germany. His discography includes Drums ’n’ Chant and a live DVD of Percussive Planet on Deutsche Grammophon, with further recordings released on labels such as Sony, Kairos, Ondine and BIS.