Caroli, Mario

started his musical studies at the age of 14 and he obtained his soloist diploma at the age of 19. He studied in Italy with Annamaria Morini and was deeply influenced by the flutist Manuela Wiesler. At the age of 22, he won the coveted Kranichsteiner Musikpreis in Darmstadt and started a very highly successful career as a solo flutist. Today, he is one the world’s leading flutists, highly respected for his incredible capability of making music with every kind of music. 

After the Kranichsteiner Musikpreis, Mario started his career as an advocate for new music. He inspired new works written by Salvatore Sciarrino, György Kurtág, Doina Rotaru, Toshio Hosokawa, Ivan Fedele, Olga Neuwirth, Philippe Hurel, Wolfgang Rihm, Francesco Filidei, Stefano Gervasoni, Marco Stroppa, Joji Yuasa, Kaija Saariaho, as well as countless young composers. is activity has contributed to considerably expand the flute repertoire. 

Lately, the musical interests of Mario Caroli centered again on the global repertoire, without any distinctions of style. In the panorama of modern flutists, Caroli stands as a unique figure, one of the very rare who can switch from the most classical piece to the most extreme contemporary work with the same competence, the same incredible virtuosity as well the same vibrant personality. The critics talk about him in terms of “phenomenon” for his totally refreshing interpretations of works by Bach, Schubert, or Debussy. 

He regularly appears as a soloist with orchestras such as London’s Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Tokyo Philharmonic and Metropolitan Orchestra Tokyo, SWR and WDR symphony, Orchestre National de Belgique, Italian Radio National Orchestra, Greek Radio Television National Orchestra, Basel Sinfonietta, Icelandic Symphony Orchestra, So a Soloists, Mozart Chamber Philharmonic, opera orchestras of Stuttgart, Verona, Florence, Rouen, Bari, and Cagliari, philharmonic orchestras of Strasbourg, Nice, Monte Carlo, AUKSO Chamber Orchestra, Les Percussions de Strasbourg, Ensemble Contrechamps, Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, and many others. He appears at the leading festivals around the world including Salzburg, Festival Cervantino in Mexico, Musica in Strasbourg, Great Performers Series at Lincoln Center in New York, Radio France’s Présences Festival in Paris, Warsaw Autumn, and in prestigious concert halls including the Berlin and Cologne Philharmonics, Concertgebouw, London’s Royal Festival Hall, Vienna Konzerthaus, New York’s Lincoln Center, Suntory Hall and Opera City House in Tokyo, La Scala, Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Paris Philharmonic, Théâtre du Châtelet, Opéra Garnier and Auditorium de Radio France, Cité de la Musique in Strasbourg, Harpa in Reykjavík, and Athens’ Megaron. 

He has recorded over highly acclaimed 40 CDs as well as for the main radios and televisions all over the world. 

Mario Caroli is also one of the most required modern flute teachers: in addition to masterclasses for the leading musical institutions, he holds the chair of flute at the High School of Music in Freiburg. He holds a PhD in Philosophy for a thesis on Nietzsche’s Antichrist. A cosmopolitan and polyglot artist, Mario lives in Strasbourg and fluently speaks six languages.