In 1986 Mario Brunello was the first Italian ever to win the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, which launched him into a stunning international career. Brunello has played with some of the most prestigious orchestras, including the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, London Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France, NHK Symphony Tokyo, Kioi Sinfonietta, Filarmonica della Scala, Accademia di Santa Cecilia, DSO Berlin. He has collaborated with conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Yuri Temirkanov, Antonio Pappano, Manfred Honeck, Riccardo Chailly, Riccardo Muti, Vladimir Jurowski, Ton Koopman, Daniele Gatti, John Axelrod, Myung-Whun Chung, Seiji Ozawa and Claudio Abbado. Abbado has, over the years, invited Brunello several times to play with him and the Orchestra of the Lucerne Festival and the Mozart Orchestra. With both orchestras Brunello has appeared as a soloist and as a conductor.

He often takes on the dual roles of conductor and soloist, and in 1994 he founded the Orchestra d’Archi Italiana with whom he tours intensively both in Italy and abroad.

Chamber music plays an important role in his artistic life and he collaborates with artists including Gidon Kremer, Martha Argerich, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Isabelle Faust, Yuri Bashmet, Maurizio Pollini, Valery Afanassiev, Andrea Lucchesini, the Hugo Wolf Quartett.

Brunello also devotes much time to projects involving diverse art forms (literature, philosophy, science, theatre). Through new ways of communication he tries to attract new audiences, creating interactive performances of music, images and words. A large number of these activities take place in Antiruggine, a remodelled workshop that is ideal for these experiments.

The most recent recordings of Mario Brunello include: Dvorak Cello Concerto live recorded in Rome with the Accademia of Santa Cecilia Orchestra and Antonio Pappano (EMI), Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Mozart Orchestra and Claudio Abbado (DGG) and a five-CD box titled “Brunello Series” on Egea Records containing: “Odusia” a CD dedicated to the Mediterranean culture, “Brunello and Vivaldi” dedicated to Vivaldi Cello Concertos, “Violoncello and” a CD with contemporary works for cello solo, “Schubert e Lekeu” with the pianist Andrea Lucchesini and a double CD with a new recording of Bach Cello Suites, this last awarded with the “Italian Critic Award 2010”.

Major engagements of the 2014/15 season include an extensive tour in Far East, where he appears in recitals for solo cello, with piano and with orchestra. At the Kioi Hall in Tokyo he will play the complete Sonatas & Variations by Beethoven while with the Accademia of Santa Cecilia conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano he performs Dvorak Concerto appearing in the major halls of China and Japan.

“Bach Networks” is the title of a new artistic project created together with Uri Caine scheduled in Italy and Switzerland. To complete the season, concerts with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, a residency at the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano and a return to the Teatro La Fenice Orchestra in Venice in the double role of soloist and conductor.

Mario Brunello plays a precious Maggini cello from the 1600s.