Festival Artists

Aaron Pagani, born in 1995 in Pforzheim, grew up among the performing arts. The son of a singer/actor and a props manager, he was exposed to the skilled handicraft and artistic aspects of theater life. He started playing the contrabass at age 9 in the string class of his grade school. His first teacher was Klaus Dusek, contrabassist in the Badische Philharmonie Pforzheim. His early orchestra experiences included the Landesjugendorchester BaWü, the Bundesjugendorchester, and the Orchestra CJD. At 15, he began to study with Prof. Matthias Weber as a preparatory student at the Hochschule für Musik and darstellende Kunst in Stuttgart, where he then from 2014-2018 matriculated and earned his Bachelors Degree under Professor Weber’s aegis. During this time, Pagani played as an intern in the Philharmonische Orchester der Stadt Freiburg (2016-2017) and in the SWR Symphonieorchester Stuttgart (2017-2018).

For his master studies he went to the Münchner Hochschule für Musik und Tanz, where he studied with Prof. Wies de Bouvé. In February 2019 Pagani was invited to Leipzig , as part of the Mendelssohn-Orchesterakademie, to play with the Gewandhausorchester. There, he studied with mentor Rainer Hucke. He has received further guidance in master classes with renowned contrabassists such as Janne Saksala, Matthew McDonald, Esko Laine, Dorin Marc, and Philipp Stubenrauch. Aaron Pagani currently plays in the Staatsoper Stuttgart, of which he has been a member since 2020.