Roland Pröll (born 11 June 1949 in Unna,

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

) is a German

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

, and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of music.

Biography

Roland Pröll had his first piano lessons at the age of 5. When he was 11 he became a

student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution, or more generally, a person who takes a special interest in a subject. In the United Kingdom and most The Commonwealth, commonwealth countries, a "student" attends ...

of Dieter Wollert at the

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

Music university in Germany. There he passed his

diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offi ...

with distinction. After this he continued his studies in Paris at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique with

Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist. One of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century, he was also an ou ...

, Loriod, Sancan, Dubois, and other famous teachers. As well as studying the

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, he also studied other musical disciplines such as conducting and composing. The taught method of

Solfège In music, solfège (British English or American English , ) or solfeggio (; ), also called sol-fa, solfa, solfeo, among many names, is a mnemonic used in teaching aural skills, Pitch (music), pitch and sight-reading of Western classical music, W ...

was a formative influence for him, especially in France, leading to his support for the dissemination of this method all over the world. He finished his studies in

musicology Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, ...

at the Sorbonne in Paris and became a Ph.D., (Doctorat d`Université). After this he became a student of

Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein Order of the British Empire, KBE OMRI (; 28 January 1887 – 20 December 1982) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American pianist.

and worked with other famous musicians. He has gained many first prizes in international competitions, and he gives concerts all over the world. He is a guest of

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

Berlin Philharmonie The () is a concert hall in Berlin, Germany, and home to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. The Philharmonie lies on the south edge of the city's Tiergarten and just west of the former Berlin Wall. The Philharmonie is on Herbert-von-Karajan- ...

and others. His fame has spread, especially in Japan and

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, and more recently in China. Since 2005 he has been working with the Murcia Symphony Orchestra, and he goes on tour with them through Spain. He has recorded many CDs and has made many special recordings for television and radio all over the world. He taught at the Dortmund Music university as a professor until 1996 and he led the institute from 1988 to 1990 as dean. From 1999 to 2002 he was dean of the Ibach-Academy in Schwelm, Germany, which was founded in co-operation with him. In the time period from 2006 to the middle of 2007 Roland Pröll worked as a musical leader of the non-profit association Viva la Musica e. V. in

Bad Oeynhausen Bad Oeynhausen () is a spa town on the southern edge of the Wiehengebirge in the district of Minden-Lübbecke in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe, East-Westphalia-Lippe region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The closest larger towns are Bielefeld (39 ki ...

, Germany. Because of decrease in demand the association dissolved at the end of June 2007. Since that time Pröll works as a tutor and artist for the music agency "Musikagentour Viva" in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany. In 1987 he founded the international Schubert-Competition in

, which is today one of the great piano competitions. (Today's leader is

Arnulf von Arnim Arnulf von Arnim (born 1947 in Hamburg) is a German classical pianist and teacher. Von Arnim studied in Germany and France and attended classes by Claudio Arrau and Wilhelm Kempff. He is the winner of several prizes - Viotti (Vercelli), Busoni (Bo ...

). Today Roland Pröll holds

professorships Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a 'person who professes'. Professors ...

for

and

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

at the Atsugi Showa University of Music in Tokyo, Japan, at the Conservatorio Superior de Musica in

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

, Spain, and at the Conservatory in

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; ; archaic English: ''Osnaburg'') is a city in Lower Saxony in western Germany. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population of 168 ...

, Germany. He gives masterclasses and concerts all over the world.

Discography (summary)

* W.A. Mozart: Concert for piano and orchestra KV 413 and KV 414 a quattro (with Arnsberger Streichtrio) * W.A. Mozart: Chamber music from three generations of Mozart (

Father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. A biological fat ...

, W.A., Son) (with Manfred Hörr,

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

, Christiane Hörr,

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

und Peter Hörr,

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

) * L. v. Beethoven:

Piano sonata A piano sonata is a sonata written for a solo piano. Piano sonatas are usually written in three or four movements, although some piano sonatas have been written with a single movement (Liszt, Scriabin, Medtner, Berg), others with two movemen ...

s op. 110 und op. 111 * F. Schubert: " Die Winterreise" (with Berthold Schmidt, tenor) * F. Schubert, C. Debussy, J. Brahms and G. Fauré: Cello

sonata In music a sonata (; pl. ''sonate'') literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cantare'', "to sing"), a piece ''sung''. The term evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms until th ...

s (with Peter Hörr,

) * J. Brahms: Piano concerto No. 1 (d-minor, op. 15) (with the "Junge Symphoniker" Werner Seiss, conductor) * J. Brahms: Violin sonatas No. 1 (op. 78), No. 2 (op. 100), No. 3 (op. 108) and

Scherzo A scherzo (, , ; plural scherzos or scherzi), in western classical music, is a short composition – sometimes a movement from a larger work such as a symphony or a sonata. The precise definition has varied over the years, but scherzo often r ...

c-minor (oop.) (with Ismene Then-Berg,

) * J. Brahms: Horn-Trio Es-Dur (op. 40),

Violin sonata A violin sonata is a musical composition for violin, often accompanied by a keyboard instrument and in earlier periods with a bass instrument doubling the keyboard bass line. The violin sonata developed from a simple Baroque music, baroque form wi ...

No. 2 (op. 100) and Scherzo c-minor (oop.) (with Gerhard Reich,

) * J. Brahms: Variationen und Fugen über ein Thema von

Händel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, Han ...

(op. 24) and Vier Balladen (op. 10) * R. Schumann: Fantasie in C (Op. 17), M. Ravel: Miroirs * M. Ravel: Pavane pour une infante Défunte, P.I. Tschaikowsky:

from Symphony No. 1 (op. 13) in g-minor, G. Gershwin:

Rhapsody in Blue ''Rhapsody in Blue'' is a 1924 musical composition for solo piano and jazz band by George Gershwin. Commissioned by bandleader Paul Whiteman, the work combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects and premiered in a concer ...

(with LJOrchester RP Michel Luig, conductor)

Books

* L`Effet Psychologique du Triton dans la Musique d`Alexandre Scriabine * Fantasy and artistical Production, is it possible to learn Creativity? *

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Proll, Roland 1949 births Living people People from Unna University of Paris alumni German musicologists German pianists German male conductors (music) German composers Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Detmold 21st-century German conductors (music) 21st-century German pianists 21st-century German male musicians