Biography
Dr. Mario Aschauer is a Lecturer in Harpsichord at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. His work as conductor, harpsichordist, and musicologist focuses on the interface of music scholarship and performance. Dr. Aschauer’s book on German Keyboard Treatises in the Second Half of the Eighteenth Century was published by Bärenreiter (Kassel, 2011). All new Bärenreiter editions of Schubert’s piano music (including Impromptus, Moments Musicaux, and sonatas) are furnished with Dr. Aschauer’s notes on performance practice and historically-informed fingerings. Recent publications include a new edition of Mozart’s Sonata in A Major, K. 331, the first modern scholarly edition of both parts of Anton Diabelli’s Vaterländischer Künstlerverein, and Dr. Aschauer’s completion of Beethoven’s draft for a revised version of Für Elise, WoO. 59.
One of Dr. Aschauer’s other research interests is the creative process of composers, particularly of Anton Bruckner. Recent publications include a history of creative process pedagogy between 1500 and 1850 in The Oxford Handbook of Creative Process in Music and the article on Anton Bruckner in Oxford Bibliographies in Music. Current projects include a new book on Bruckner’s sketches and drafts.
As recitalist and continuo-player on historical keyboard instruments Dr. Aschauer has built up a diverse repertoire and currently focuses on Austrian Baroque music. As a conductor Dr. Aschauer also specializes in historically informed performance practice and has collaborated with early music ensembles such as Mercury Chamber Orchestra Houston, La Follia Austin, Ensemble NovAntique Linz, Progetto Semiserio Vienna, Harmony of Nations Baroque Orchestra, Ars Antiqua Austria, and L'Orfeo Baroque Orchestra.
Dr. Aschauer holds an MA in harpsichord performance from the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, as well as an MPhil and a PhD in musicology from the University of Vienna, all of which he earned “with distinction”—as well as a degree in conducting from the Linz Bruckner Conservatory. He has since returned to teach at these institutions. Between 2008-2014, Mario held a position as a researcher at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (Vienna). In 2012-13, he was a postdoctoral fellow and visiting guest lecturer at the Yale School of Music.