Mario Šincek (1979) was born in Varaždin into a family of musicians. He received his first lessons from his father Vjekoslav, and completed his elementary and secondary music education in Varaždin with Prof. S. Rukljić. In 1996, he enrolled at the Academy of Music, University of Zagreb in the class of Prof. Š. Vulelija. In his second year of studies, in 1998, he successfully auditioned for a permanent position as principal trombonist at the Opera of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, where he worked until 2003. He then won the audition for principal trombone with the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, where he remained until 2024, when he joined the Academy of Music. He further refined his skills at masterclasses with Branimir Slokar, Michel Becquet, Christian Lindberg Svanberg, Jacques Mauger, and Ian Bousfield.

Alongside his position as principal trombonist in the orchestra, he is also active as a pedagogue at the Academy of Music in Zagreb. He has served as Assistant since 2007, Adjunct Assistant Professor since 2012, Adjunct Associate Professor since 2023, and Associate Professor since 2024. He teaches five subjects: Trombone, Trombone Teaching Methodology, Orchestral Excerpts, Related Instruments, and Teaching Practice. As a pedagogue, he is highly focused and patient, with extensive experience in motivating students toward success, whether in solo performance, chamber music, or pedagogical work.

His broad range of interests has led him to actively perform on related brass instruments; he frequently plays bass trumpet or euphonium for orchestral and chamber music projects (XL Tuba Quartet). This is closely connected to his pedagogical work, as he also teaches related instruments. For over twenty years, he has been a member of the Cantus Ensemble, an ensemble dedicated to contemporary music. He is also the artistic director of the Ad gloriam Brass Ensemble, a brass sextet in which he has performed since 2004, and a member of the Zagreb Philharmonic Trombone Quartet.

He is very active as a soloist and chamber musician and has premiered a large number of works by Croatian composers, many of which were written at his initiative. He is also actively engaged in arranging and preparing works, especially for brass instruments, and has recorded five chamber music albums as well as a solo album featuring Croatian music for trombone and piano. For more than ten years, he has directed the International Summer Trombone School on the island of Brač, “Summer Music School Pučišća,” and for several years has also led a winter trombone school in Zagreb under the same name.