Austrian percussionist Martin Grubinger was accepted by the Austrian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra when he turned eight years. At 16 he was the youngest finalist of the 2nd World Marimba Competition in Okaya in Japan, as well as finalist of the EBU Competition in Norway. He was chosen "Rising Artist 2007/08" by the European Concert Halls Organisation and is the recipient of the "Bernstein Award" at the 2007 Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. Born in 1983, Grubinger offers an impressive repertoire which shows his extraordinary talents as drum soloist. Composers such as Avner Dorman and HK Gruber have been commissioned to write percussion concertos for Martin Grubinger.