Praised by Fanfare for possessing a tone which is “larger than life, sweetly in tune, and infinitely variegated”, and for her “delicious” playing, Carol Rodland, violist, enjoys a distinguished international career as a concert and recording artist and pedagogue.
Recent performance highlights have included recitals at both the 2016 American Viola Society Festival and the 2016 American Guild of Organists National Convention, at the Musikfestpiele Saar in Germany, on the String Masters Series in Boston, and on WXXI Public Radio’s Backstage Pass. Ms. Rodland collaborates frequently in recital with her sister Catherine Rodland, organist, as the Rodland Duo, as well as with pianists Marcantonio Barone and Tatevik Mokatsian, and cellist Scott Kluksdahl. She also performs regularly with the Portland Chamber Music Festival. Her recordings on the Crystal and Neuma labels have been critically acclaimed. An active proponent of contemporary music, she has commissioned, premiered, and recorded new works by Kenji Bunch, Dan Coleman, Augustus Hailstork, David Liptak, Christopher Theofanidis, and Augusta Read Thomas.
A dedicated and much sought-after teacher, Ms. Rodland is Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at the Juilliard School. She is also an artist-faculty member at the Perlman Music Program, the Bowdoin International Music Festival, and the Karen Tuttle Coordination Workshop. Previous positions have included professorships at the Eastman School of Music, where she was also Co-Chair of the String Department, at New England Conservatory, where she was recognized in 2005 with the “Louis and Adrienne Krasner Award for Excellence in Teaching”, at Berlin’s “Hanns Eisler” Hochschule, and at Arizona State University. Recent guest teaching residencies have included master classes in the United Kingdom at the Royal College of Music in London, in Germany at the Hochschule Fuer Musik und Theater in Saarbruecken and at the Universitaet der Kunste in Berlin, in Norway at the Valdres Sommersymfoni, in Tel Aviv Israel with the Perlman Music Program, and in the United States at the Juilliard School, Oberlin Conservatory, Boston Conservatory, New England Conservatory ,Indiana University, University of Michigan, and the Walnut Hill School.
Ms. Rodland is the founder and artistic director of “If Music Be the Food…”, a benefit concert series created in 2009 to increase awareness and support for the hungry in the local community through the sharing of great music. Teaching music students about the importance of utilizing their art for service in their communities is also part of the series’ mission. “If Music Be the Food…” is a fully volunteer endeavor; all of the musicians donate their services, the venues donate the performance spaces, and audience members bring food or cash donations for the local food bank as the price of admission. “If Music Be the Food…” has inspired other prominent musicians in the US to implement initiatives based on this concept in their own communities.
Ms. Rodland made her solo debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra as a teenager and subsequently won first prizes at the Washington International Competition, the Artists International Auditions, and the Juilliard Concerto Competition, as well as the Universal Editions Prize at the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition. She has also been the recipient of Fulbright and Beebe Fund Grants and Juilliard’s Lillian Fuchs Prize. Ms. Rodland holds Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees from the Juilliard School, where she studied on full scholarship with Karen Tuttle, as well as an Aufbaustudium Diplom awarded with distinction from the Musikhochschule Freiburg , where she studied with Kim Kashkashian. She had the unique privilege of serving as teaching assistant to both of her mentors.
For further information, please visit www.carolrodland.com and www.ifmusicbethefood.com.