Mario Bruderhofer started taking drum lessons at age seven. After 11 years of studying with Marcel Oppliger in Lucerne, he moved to Zurich to study at the Zurich University of the Arts, where he studied with Raphael Christen and Klaus Schwärzler during his bachelor’s degree program. As part of his master’s degree, he took secondary drum lessons with Pius Baschnagel and studied World Percussion with Ruven Ruppik, focussing on the pandeiro. He has won multiple awards at the Swiss Percussion Championship in Altishofen.
Taking on a host of different roles (drums & percussion, arranger, sound engineer and musical lead), he participated in numerous musical theatre productions in and around Lucerne. As a gigging musician, he has a long-standing association with several Symphonic Wind Orchestras, the City Light Symphony Orchestra, the Central Swiss Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Zurich Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Academic Orchestra Zurich.
Since 2017, he has developed a strong personal interest in Latin American music, centered on Cuban and Brazilian music.