Richard Tognetti is an Australian violinist, conductor, and composer. He was born in Canberra and grew up in Wollongong, where he became a student of William Primrose. He attended the Conservatorium High School in Sydney, where he studied violin with Alice Waten. He won the National Youth Concerto Competition in 1980, and went on to study with Igor Ozim at the Bern Conservatory. In 1989, he was awarded the Tschumi Prize, and he was appointed artistic director and leader of the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Tognetti has performed as soloist with artists in various genres, and he plays Baroque, modern, and electric violins. He has also transcribed classics by Beethoven, Paganini, Satie, Janacek, Szymanowski, and Ravel for chamber orchestra. Tognetti has appeared with the Handel Haydn Society of Boston, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Tapiola Sinfonietta, the Irish Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Salzburg, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, the Nordic Chamber Orchestra, and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, among many others. In addition to his work with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Tognetti is also the artistic director of the Maribor Festival in Slovenia. In 2010, he was named an Officer of the Order of Australia for his work with charities and his contributions to Australian music. He has recorded for ABC Classics, BIS, Chandos, and Hyperion. ~ Blair Sanderson, Rovi