Richard Tognetti

Richard Leo Tognetti, AO (born 4 August 1965) is an Australian violinist, composer and conductor. He is currently Artistic Director and Leader of the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) and Artistic Director of the Maribor Festival in Maribor, Slovenia.

Richard Tognetti was born in Canberra, Australia and raised in Wollongong. He studied briefly with the violist William Primrose in Wollongong, and then at the Sydney Conservatorium High School with Alice Waten. In 1980 he won the National Youth Concerto Competition held in Brisbane with the Queensland Youth Symphony under John Curro. He undertook post-graduate study with Igor Ozim at the Bern Conservatory, where he was awarded the Tschumi Prize in 1989.

On his return to Australia in 1989 the Board of the Australian Chamber Orchestra appointed him Artistic Director and lead violinist – at only 25 years of age. Under Tognetti's leadership, the orchestra has earned a reputation as one of the leading chamber orchestras in the world. The Times has gone so far as to say "This group must be the best chamber orchestra on earth."

Tognetti is an extremely versatile violinist, performing on modern and electric instruments. For example, with Australian rock musician Iva Davies, he co-wrote and performed on 31 December 1999 for an international millennium broadcast The Ghost of Time on electric violin, with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

He has also performed with various musicians from different genres. His musical abilities extend to arranging music for different ensemble types. He has arranged the music of composers such as Janáček, Szymanowski, Paganini, Beethoven, Ravel and Satie, greatly expanding the chamber orchestra repertoire. In 2008, he wrote The Red Tree for children's choir, chamber orchestra and projected images with Michael Yezerski, inspired by the illustrated book by Shaun Tan.

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