ROBERT ROLLIN, a native of Brooklyn, New York, began composing at age 8 and was soon recommended by conductor Erich Leinsdorf for a special composition scholarship at Juilliard. Graduating Phi Beta Kappa from City College and with a Doctorate from Cornell, he studied under Mark Brunswick, Ravi Shankar, Robert Palmer, Karel Husa, Elliot Carter, and Gyorgy Ligeti. He has been recognized with annual ASCAP awards consecutively for 25 years, and has held many important awards, post doctoral fellowships and grants, including the Ohio Governor’s Award for Creative Excellence presented by the Hon. Richard Celeste in a public ceremony.

Rollin’s many compositions have been performed and broadcast on six continents, and have been required jury pieces in the USA France, and South Africa His publishers include Seesaw Music Corporation, Acoma/Nambe Editions, E.G. Schirmer, and Bourne Music Publishers. He serves as Associate Editor of the theoretical journal Ex tempore, and has authored numerous articles in other international journals. An active pianist, he is founder and coordinator of the International Dana New Music Festival now in its 23rd year, and conductor of the Dana Festival Chamber Orchestra, a professional group. He is also Chair of Graduate and Undergraduate Composition at the Dana School of Music, Youngstown State University in Ohio.

Next season the Pittsburgh Live Chamber Orchestra, under conductor Jeffry Turner, will present the Pittsburgh premiere of Rollin’s Double Concerto for Viola, String Bass, Strings, and Harp with Pittsburgh Symphony Principal Violist Randolph Kelly and Pittsburgh Symphony Bassist Micah Howard as soloists. The group will then record the work on Albany Records for international distribution.

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