Dominik Wagner

"It's unbelievable what richness of sound and enchantment can be achieved with this instrument."
Viennese double bassist Dominik Wagner is considered one of the leading voices of his instrument. With technical brilliance, musical depth, and charismatic stage presence, he inspires audiences as a soloist and chamber musician. Awarded the ECHO and OPUS KLASSIK prizes, he is passionately committed to expanding the repertoire for the double bass.
Whether through composition commissions or the search for rarities, he brings a new diversity to his instrument.

photo Andrej Grilc

Dominik Wagner is a scholarship recipient of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation and has also won prizes in many leading double bass competitions, including the Bradetich Foundation International Double Bass Solo Competition, the ARD International Music Competition, the Fanny Mendelssohn Prize and the Eurovision Young Musicians Competition.
He has already performed with renowned orchestras such as the Camarata Salzburg, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the WDR Symphony Orchestra, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra or the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and in concert halls in New York (Carnegie Hall), Berlin (Konzerthaus), Vienna (Musikverein and Konzerthaus), Munich (Herkulessaal) and Hamburg (Elbphilharmonie), among others. He was associated with the Wurttemberg Chamber Orchestra as a Young Artist and still performs with them regularly. The Nikolaisaal Potsdam is currently presenting him as their debut artist. Wagner is a regular guest in the US with orchestral concerts, solo recitals, chamber music and master classes.
In 2021 Wagner's first solo CD Giovanni Bottesini - Revolution of Bass was released by Berlin Classics.
On the albums Chapters - A Double Bass Story and Bass Nocturnes (2025, digital) also released by Berlin Classics, he presents recital recordings together with Lauma Skride. Recordings and concert programs feature works ranging from Bach and Schubert to Piazzolla and Mancini, showcasing both their entire musical range. In 2023, Double Bass Rhapsody was released, an album on which Dominik Wagner and up to five other double basses bring forth new facets of sound for the instrument.
In addition to his solo activities, Wagner is a passionate chamber musician and is constantly searching for innovative timbres through new orchestrations. This led to a cooperation with jazz double bassist Georg Breinschmid, whose concerto for two double basses the two have premiered in February 2026.
Other exciting formations include a trio with Sebastian Manz (clarinet) and Danae Dörken (piano), a duo with Aurelia Vișovan (harpsichord), and a duo with Laura Lootens (guitar).
Dominik Wagner was initially trained as a cellist before switching to the double bass in 2007. His four years in the concert choir of the Vienna Boys Choir were a formative musical influence. He studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna with Prof. Josef Niederhammer and Mag. Werner Fleischmann from 2009 to 2015, and from 2015 to 2022 with Prof. Dorin Marc at the HfM Nuremberg. After completing the Professional Studies Program in Kronberg, he first held a professorship in Würzburg before taking up the professorship for double bass at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. In addition to this activity, he gives master classes in Europe and the USA