Roland Peter Pöntinen (born 1963 in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden) is a Swedish

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. Pöntinen was born to an Ingrian Finnish father and Swedish mother. He studied at the

Adolf Fredrik's Music School Adolf Fredrik's Music School () is a general municipal junior high school () in Stockholm, Sweden with a focus on choral music, and highly competitive admission based on audition in singing and musical ability. The school has two campuses and thr ...

and the

Royal Swedish Academy of Music The Royal Swedish Academy of Music (), founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in ...

in Stockholm with , then with

Menahem Pressler Menahem Pressler (; 16 December 1923 – 6 May 2023) was a German-born Israeli-American pianist and academic teacher. He was known for his work with the Beaux Arts Trio that he co-founded in 1955, playing until its dissolution in 2008, in hund ...

, György Sebok and Elisabeth Leonskaya at

Indiana University at Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

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, United States. Official web site: the pianist.Biography of Roland Pöntinen at bach-cantatas.com He made his debut in 1981 with the

Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra ( or , literal translations, "Royal Philharmonic" or "Royal Philharmonic Orchestra") is a Swedish orchestra based in Stockholm. Its principal venue is the Konserthuset. History The orchestra was foun ...

and has since then performed with major orchestras in Europe, USA, Korea, South-America, Australia and New Zealand. He has worked with conductors Myung-Whun Chung,

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos (born Rafael Frühbeck; 15 September 1933 – 11 June 2014) was a Spanish conductor and composer. Frühbeck was born in Burgos, Spain to a family of German ancestry. He first took up conducting while on military serv ...

Neeme Järvi Neeme Järvi (; born 7 June 1937) is an Estonian Americans, Estonian American conductor. Early life Järvi was born in Tallinn. He initially studied music there, and later in Saint Petersburg, Leningrad at the Leningrad Conservatory under Yevge ...

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, Jukka-Pekka Saraste,

Leif Segerstam Leif Selim Segerstam ( , 2 March 1944 – 9 October 2024) was a Finnish conductor, composer, violinist, violist, and pianist, especially known for writing over 300 symphonies, along with other works. From 1963 onward Segerstam conducted a vari ...

, Evgeny Svetlanov, Franz Welser-Möst and David Zinman amongst others. He has performed with the

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, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra as well as appearances in London Proms where he has played both the Grieg Piano Concerto and the

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde music, avant-garde composers in the latter half of the ...

Piano Concerto. Pöntinen's solo record debut was a recital of Russian piano music on the

BIS Records BIS Records is a record label founded in 1973 by Robert von Bahr. It is located in Åkersberga, Sweden. BIS focuses on classical music, both contemporary and early, especially works that are not already well represented by existing recording ...

label in 1984. He has since made over 50 records as soloist, accompanist and with orchestra.

Selected list of compositions

The following list is based on information from the composer's web site. Official web site: the composer. * The Girl from Brazil (1981) * Camera per trombone e pianoforte (1981) also version for jazz-group * Blue Winter for trombone and strings (1987) :A performance of this piece on February 3, 1998, given by the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription concerts, n ...

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

, New York, was reviewed by Bernard Holland in the ''New York Times'':''New York Times'', February 5, 1998
Accessed 21 August 2009. Subscription or registration may be required. ::"A newer piece was Roland Pontinen's ''Blue Winter'' for trombone and orchestra. Mr. Pontinen takes an unlikely solo instrument deadly seriously as an agent for rich, flexible lyrical writing. ''Blue Winter'' is a kind of elegy in one movement. The trombone part, played here with skill and sincerity by Nitzan Haroz, is made to sing against slow-moving chordal sheets of string sound. The effect is both icy and mournful; the acid harmonies keep sentimentality at bay." * Tango Plus for clarinet, violin, cello and piano (1993) * Capriccio for two flutes and strings (1993) * Mercury Dream for clarinet and piano (1994) * Concerto for piano and winds (1994) * Aiming at the ocean (1997) * Sombre seascapes glowing (1997)

Notes

Sources

* Official web site.
Accessed 21 August 2009. * Biography a

Accessed 21 August 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pontinen, Roland 1963 births Living people Musicians from Stockholm Litteris et Artibus recipients 21st-century Swedish pianists People of Ingrian Finnish descent Swedish people of Finnish descent