New ASU Faculty Member Performs New Work by Young American Composer

Tempe, AZ – Internationally acclaimed violist Carol Rodland, who joined the Herberger College of Fine Arts School of Music last fall, presents her first Faculty Artist Recital on (Friday) Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m. She will be accompanied by fellow faculty member, pianist Eckart Sellheim. The free performance is in the Music Building’s Katzin Concert Hall.

An active proponent of contemporary music, Rodland will perform Suite for Viola and Piano by the young American composer, Kenji Bunch, who is the current Young Concert Artists’ Composer-in-Residence. Last season, Rodland gave the European premiere of Bunch’s composition, which has met with one positive review after another. Rodland was drawn to the work by the challenge of performing it: Bunch is also a violist and purposefully composed a piece that tests a player’s limits in 15 minutes. According to The Washington Post, “The style of the suite’s five short, well-contrasted movements is clearly modern but deeply respectful of tradition and instantly enjoyable.” Rodland rounds out the program with works by Bach and Piazzolla.

Since making her debut as viola soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1985, Rodland has performed to critical acclaim throughout North American and Europe performing in many of the leading concert halls. She is the recipient of numerous prizes and awards, including the first prize in the 1994-1995 Julliard Concerto Competition. She holds a Pre-College Diploma and Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Julliard School, where she served as principal violist of the Julliard Orchestra; upon graduation, she was awarded the Lillian Fuchs Prize in Viola. From 1992 to 1993, she was a Fulbright Scholar and Beebe Fund grantee at the Musikhochschule Freiburg and in 1993, the school awarded her an Aufbaustudium Diploma “with excellence.”

From 1996 to 2001, Rodland was on the viola faculty of the Musikhochschule “Hans Eisler” in Berlin. She joined the ASU music faculty in Fall 2001 as an associate professor of viola. Rodland brought five of her students from Berlin: Mariona Oliu from Spain, Gor Hovhannisyan from Armenia and Verona Rapp from Germany, as well as Jenny Valtalo and Marian Tuhti from Sweden. Three more of her students will enroll at ASU next fall. 

Media Contact:
Mary Brennan
480-965-3587
mary.brennan@asu.edu