Mariano Chiacchiarini Is the University of Bremen’s New Director of Music

The University of Bremen has a new Director of Music. Mariano Chiacchiarini took up his position in September 2022 and now leads the choir and orchestra. The internationally renowned, multi-award-winning conductor was previously Director of Music at the University of Trier for eleven years.

“In hiring Mariano Chiacchiarini, the University of Bremen has successfully attracted a great artist to take on the position of new Director of Music,” said President Jutta Günther, “I am very excited for him to enrich us with his expertise and to continue to artistically develop our choir and orchestra with his outstanding enthusiasm.”
The 39-year-old director already has many successes to his name. At the age of 25, he won first prize in the Teatro Colón “J. Martini” Conducting Competition in Buenos Aires. This marked the beginning of his international career, which led to crucial encounters with renowned conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Pierre Boulez, and Riccardo Muti, for example. In 2018, Mariano Chiacchiarini received the ECHO Music Prize, German Record Critics’ Award, and KONEX Award in Music.
Mariano Chiacchiarini is looking forward to his new role and said, “I am currently getting to know the people who embody the high quality of music at the University of Bremen. It is a great team and we have the potential to bring so many ideas to life. We are also looking forward to welcoming many new choir and orchestra members starting in October.”

Education and Early Career

Mariano Chiacchiarini was born in Buenos Aires in 1982 to an Italian family. He graduated from the Universidad Católica Argentina with a gold medal in orchestra and choir conducting. In 2010, he received a master’s degree in conducting after completing studies under Professor Michael Luig at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln with distinction that same year.
Mariano Chiacchiarini has received awards from the Fondo Nacional de las Artes and funding from a German Academic Exchange Service scholarship, the Accademia Musicale Chigiana, and the Mozarteum Argentino. In 2013, he was selected by the Conductors’ Workshop with the Critical Orchestra at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin to work with musicians from the Berlin Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Staatskapelle Dresden, and other top orchestras.

Internationally Renowned and Multiple-Award-Winning

Chiacchiarini was able to gain experience with many prestigious and renowned orchestras and ensembles even at a young age. They include the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Russian National Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Hong Kong Phil, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Gürzenich Orchester Köln, WDR Sinfonieorchester, and Ensemble Modern as well as orchestras from Austria, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Bulgaria, Asia, North America, and South America. He also has CD and radio recordings, for example with WDR, SR, SWR, RBB, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Deutschlandfunk, Radio France, Radiotelevisione Svizzera, National Radio Belarus, and Radio Nacional Argentina.
Moreover, Chiacchiarini has been a guest conductor at major festivals such as the Lucerne Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Young Euro Classic, and Donaueschingen Festival. His conducting has taken him to many famous venues such as the Elbphilharmonie, the Konzerthaus Berlin, the grand Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, and the Opéra Bastille. In 2016, his concert in China was chosen as Event of the Year and broadcast live around the world.
Mariano Chiacchiarini currently has numerous other firm engagements, including as the permanent conductor of the Ensemble Garage since 2009. He has also been one of the principal conductors of the Argentine National Symphony Orchestra since 2014 and involved in the Lucerne Festival Academy since 2013. In recent years, Mariano was appointed to Barbara Hannigan’s Momentum project and a German Music Council advisory board.

What Does a Director of University Music Do?

The Director of University Music organizes the musical life of the university for everyone studying and working at it, conducts the university orchestra and choir, offers musicology seminars on topics related to the two ensembles’ joint concerts, and is responsible for the concert series in the theater. Bremen’s first Director of University Music was Dr. Susanne Gläß, who started in 1996 and remained in the position for 24 years. She was very successful in it, expanding the orchestra and starting a large choir. In conjunction with both ensembles, she held concerts each year at many places around the city and the surrounding region, including regularly at Die Glocke and the cathedral. She organized concert tours to England, Istanbul, Ukraine, Namibia, and China, among other destinations.

Exciting Brahms Program with Concert at Die Glocke

“We will be playing an exciting Brahms program,” Mariano Chiacchiarini said, foreshadowing the event. The concert is scheduled to take place on Saturday, January 28, 2023, at Die Glocke concert hall. The first choir practice will be held on Monday, October 24, 2022, from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The first orchestra rehearsal will take place on Tuesday, October 25, 2022, from 7 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. Both will be held at the university’s GW1 lecture hall and new members are welcome.