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Acclaimed for her “larger than life, sweetly in tune, infinitely variegated”, and “delicious” playing, Carol Rodland enjoys a multi-faceted international career as a concert and recording artist and teacher. First prize winner of the Washington International Competition and the Universal Editions Prize winner of the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, she made her solo debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra as a teenager and her Carnegie Hall recital debut as a winner of the Artists International Auditions.

Ms. Rodland’s performance calendar includes regular collaborations with her sister, organist Catherine Rodland as the Rodland Duo as well as with pianists Marcantonio Barone and Tatevik Mokatsian, and cellist Scott Kluksdahl. As a chamber musician, she performs at music festivals and on chamber series throughout the world. Appearances have included concerts with the Boston Chamber Music Society, the Portland Chamber Music Festival, the Craftsbury Chamber Players, the Central Chamber Music Series, the Musikfestpiele Saar, the Schwetzinger Festspiele, and as a guest violist with the Henschel Quartett, the Ying Quartett, the Colorado Quartet, and the Cassatt Quartet.

A passionate advocate for contemporary music, Ms. Rodland has commissioned, premiered, and recorded new works by Kenji Bunch, Dan Coleman, Adolphus Hailstork, David Liptak, Christopher Theofanidis, Christopher Gable, and Augusta Read Thomas. Her recordings for Crystal Records and Neuma Records have been critically acclaimed and are also available on Apple Music (Crystal Records) and Spotify (Neuma).

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, Morningside Music Bridge, Valdres Sommersymfoni, 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 für Musik und Theater in Saarbrücken and at the Universität 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 San Francisco Conservatory, Oberlin Conservatory, Rice University’s Shepherd School, Boston Conservatory, New England Conservatory ,Indiana University, University of Michigan, and the Walnut Hill School for the Arts. She has also served as a jury member, master class clinician, and featured recitalist at the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and Workshop at the Isle of Man, United Kingdom and at the Primrose International Viola Competition and Festival in the United States. In 2024, she will join the jury of the Max Rostal Competition in Berlin.

Ms. Rodland is the founder 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 are encouraged to bring food or cash donations for the local food bank to the concerts. “If Music Be the Food…” has inspired other prominent musicians to implement initiatives based on this concept in their own communities.

Ms. Rodland holds Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees from the Juilliard School, where she studied on full scholarship with Karen Tuttle and was the winner of the Juilliard Concerto Competition and the Lillian Fuchs Prize. She also received an Aufbaustudium Diplom awarded with distinction from the Musikhochschule Freiburg, Germany, where she studied as a Fulbright Scholar and Beebe Fund Grantee with Kim Kashkashian. She had the unique privilege of serving as teaching assistant to both of her mentors. She plays on a viola made by Vincenzo Panormo in 1791 and a bow made by Benoit Rolland in 2010.

For further information, please visit www.carolrodland.com and www.ifmusicbethefood.com.

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Acclaimed for her “larger than life, sweetly in tune, infinitely variegated”, and “delicious” playing, Carol Rodland enjoys a multi-faceted international career as a concert and recording artist and teacher. First prize winner of the Washington International Competition and the Universal Editions Prize winner of the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, she made her solo debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra as a teenager.

A passionate advocate for contemporary music, she has commissioned, premiered, and recorded works of Kenji Bunch, Dan Coleman, Adolphus Hailstork, David Liptak, Christopher Theofanidis, and Augusta Read Thomas. Also a dedicated and award-winning teacher, Ms. Rodland is Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at the Juilliard School and 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 with the “Krasner Award for Excellence in Teaching”, at the Musikhochschule “Hanns Eisler” Berlin, and at Arizona State University.

In 2009, Ms. Rodland founded “If Music Be the Food…”, a fully volunteer benefit concert series whose mission is to increase awareness and support for the hungry in the local community through the sharing of great music. “If Music Be the Food…” has inspired musicians across the country to implement initiatives based on this concept in their own communities.

Ms. Rodland studied on full scholarship with Karen Tuttle at the Juilliard School and as a Fulbright Scholar with Kim Kashkashian at the Musikhochschule Freiburg. 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

Download PDF

Acclaimed for her “larger than life, sweetly in tune, infinitely variegated”, and “delicious” playing, Carol Rodland enjoys a multi-faceted international career as a concert and recording artist and teacher. First prize winner of the Washington International Competition and the Universal Editions Prize winner of the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, she made her solo debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra as a teenager. Ms. Rodland performs regularly with her sister Catherine as the Rodland Duo, and with pianists Marcantonio Barone and Tatevik Mokatsian. She has premiered and recorded works by Kenji Bunch, Adolphus Hailstork, David Liptak, Christopher Theofanidis, and Augusta Read Thomas and is a frequent guest artist at music festivals throughout the world. Her recordings are available on Crystal Records and Apple Music. Ms. Rodland is Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at the Juilliard School and has previously held professorships at the Eastman School of Music, New England Conservatory, and the Hochschule fuer Musik “Hanns Eisler” Berlin. She is also an Artist-Faculty member at the Perlman Music Program, the Bowdoin International Music Festival, and the Karen Tuttle Coordination Workshop. In 2009 she founded “If Music Be the Food…” Benefit Concerts, a fully volunteer community endeavor which raises awareness and support for the hungry in the local community through the sharing of great music. (www.carolrodland.com and www.ifmusicbethefood.com)

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The Rodland sisters, Carol, violist, and Catherine, organist, began making music together as children. Their individual careers as award-winning performers and teachers have taken them all over the world, and they began performing together professionally as the Rodland Duo in 2002.

Recent Rodland Duo performances have included residencies and recitals throughout the United States, both in university settings such as the Eastman School of Music, St. Olaf College, Indiana University, the University of Michigan, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, and on concert series in various churches and other venues which house organs. They were featured recitalists at both the 2016 American Guild of Organists National Convention in Houston, Texas, and at the 2016 American Viola Society Festival in Oberlin, Ohio. They have also performed at the Luna Nova New Music Festival in Memphis, Tennessee, and at the 38th International Viola Congress in Cincinnati, Ohio, and have been featured on National Public Radio’s "Pipedreams". Critics have called The Rodland Duo’s performances "stunning" and "beyond praise". American Weavings, their acclaimed album on the Crystal Records Label of mostly world-premiere recordings of works written for them, led Gramophone to declare viola and organ "an awesome combination".

The Rodland Duo is actively engaged in commissioning new works for their unusual combination of instruments as well as in creating their own arrangements of existing compositions. Their repertoire spans the gamut from the Baroque to the contemporary. Because organs vary so widely, they adapt their repertoire to each individual venue. When a venue houses a tracker-type organ, the Rodland Duo includes a variety of Baroque-style repertoire, such as the complete sonatas for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord of Johann Sebastian Bach, sonatas for viola and harpsichord of Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach, arrangements of Marin Marais French Dances, and Daniel Pinkham’s Sonata Da Chiesa. Some of the works commissioned by the Rodland Duo were written explicitly for a tracker-type organ, including David Liptak’s “Ballast”, composed in 2015. When invited to play on a romantic-style organ with orchestral colors, their programs include their own arrangements of works for viola and orchestra, including Max Bruch’s "Romance", Benjamin Britten’s "Lachrymae", and Alan Shulman’s "Theme and Variations". Their arrangements of chorale preludes by Bach and Brahms are audience favorites. Other original works that have been composed for the Rodland Duo include "Teshuvah" by Christopher Gable, and "Concertpiece" and "Three Chorale Preludes" by John Weaver.

In addition to their active performing careers, both Carol and Catherine are dedicated teachers: Carol is Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at the Juilliard School in New York City and Catherine is Artist in Residence in Organ and Theory at Saint Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Their numerous individual accolades include top prizes at international competitions, such as the Washington International Competition, the Artists International Auditions, the American Guild of Organists National Competition, and the University of Michigan Organ Competition. Their students have been top prizewinners at various competitions and occupy prominent positions in their fields. The Rodland Duo offers individual master classes in addition to concerts, when invited somewhere for a residency. They are represented by the Concert Artist Cooperative. ( Please visit http://www.concertartistcooperative.com ).