Guest Artist: Ronaldo Rolim, piano

Brazilian pianist Ronaldo Rolim inspires audiences with thoughtful programs that beautifully balance his “consummate elegance” (New York Concert Review) with an energetic dynamism and fire. Demonstrating a “special ability to present touching interpretations” (El Norte), he has performed extensively over four continents as a guest soloist, recitalist and chamber musician, consistently in demand for his “mastery of phrasing, agogic accents, and dynamics” (Oberbaselbieter Zeitung).

A prizewinner at numerous prestigious international competitions, including Géza Anda, Bösendorfer, James Mottram, San Marino, Lyon, and Teresa Carreño, Mr. Rolim has performed with ensembles such as the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Concerto Budapest, Phoenix Symphony, European Philharmonic Orchestra of Switzerland, Symphony Orchestra of the St. Petersburg State Academic Capella, and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as many of Brazil’s foremost ensembles. A frequent presence at international music festivals, he has been featured in solo recitals and chamber music performances at Ravinia, Rio Folle Journée, Accademia Musicale Chigiana, Septembre Musical, Musikdorf Ernen, Académie Musicale de Villecroze, and the Kingston, Walla Walla and Crescent City Chamber Music Festivals.

Recent and upcoming engagements include performances of Ravel’s G major Concerto and Poulenc's Concerto for Two Pianos with the Minas Gerais Philharmonic, Liszt’s Concerto No.2 with Symphony Tacoma, Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No.4 with the Porto Alegre Symphony, Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Northwest Sinfonietta, besides multiple solo and chamber music performances in Europe and the Americas. Other notable engagements include chamber music with members of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, a tour of Poland with violinist Emanuel Salvador, a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Enrique Granados with performances of the composer’s complete Goyescas in venues in the U.S., Europe, and Brazil, and an appearance in Bernstein’s Age of Anxiety in the Bernstein Centenary Festival hosted by the Minas Gerais Philharmonic.

Mr. Rolim’s latest album on Odradek Records, Szymanowski: The Wartime Triptychs, which features programmatic works the Polish composer wrote during World War I, prompted Diapason magazine to consider him “an ideal guide to [Szymanowski's] magic world” and Classica magazine to hail his “clear but thunderous pianism.” Broadcasts of his live performances have been featured in radio stations in Brazil (Radios MEC and Cultura), the U.S. (WQXR New York, WRTI Philadelphia, WFMT Chicago, Classical KING Seattle and WBJC Baltimore), and Europe (Radios SWR 2, BBC 3, Rai 3, and France Musique). He has also been featured in several television programs in his home country, including Brasil Piano Solo, a series of recitals dedicated exclusively to Brazilian music, presented by the TV Cultura Channel. He has also participated in the documentary Magda Tagliaferro: A World Inside The Piano, in which he performed music of Scriabin.

A passionate advocate of chamber music, Mr. Rolim is the newest member of the Puget Sound Piano Trio, which for 35 years has developed extensive concert activity in the United States while being strongly committed to community engagement and educational endeavors. He was a founding member of Trio Appassionata, which during 15 years of activities cultivated multiple projects such as tours of the U.S., Europe, Brazil and China, and the release of the album gone into night are all the eyes, dedicated to piano trios by American composers. Mr. Rolim regularly performs in duo with his wife, pianist Xiaohui Yang, and collaborates with ensembles such as the Aizuri, Jasper, Guimarães and São Paulo string quartets. He has performed with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, the Brazilian Symphony, Ensemble Connect, and Bronx Arts Ensemble.

Ronaldo Rolim began musical studies with his mother, Miriam Pregnolato, and gave his first public performance at the age of four. He holds degrees from the Magda Tagliaferro School in São Paulo, the Peabody Institute in Baltimore and the Yale School of Music in New Haven. Mr. Rolim resides in Tacoma, WA, where he is Professor of Piano and Director of Keyboard Studies at the University of Puget Sound.