A brief bio is located at the ROLLAND FIDDLE CAMP's TEACHERS page of this website.

A detailed description of my teaching philosophy is at the ROLLAND FIDDLE CAMP's
PETER ROLLAND METHODS page of this website.

Here is my most recently updated performance oriented bio:

 

EXUBERANT TOE-TAPPING FUN describes the scene when 'Doc' Rolland takes the stage to entertain with his unique brand of traditional fiddling, cowboy, country, folk and bluegrass songs.  He is widely known in Arizona as a dynamic fiddling entertainer, teacher and custodian of Arizona’s fiddling heritage, and as the 1996 Arizona State Fiddle Champion and 14-time Arizona State Adult Fiddle Champion.  In 2000, 2001 and 2003 he won national titles in the certified division of the National Old-Time Fiddler’s Contest:  he was the 2000 National Certified Division Fancy Fiddle Champion and the 2001 & 2002 winner of the National Certified Division “Best Male Entertainer” award.  He was selected three times to judge the national competition.  'Doc'   traveled throughout Arizona for The National Endowment for the Arts and The Arizona Commission on the Arts from 1979-1981 collecting old-time music and fiddle tunes from elderly fiddlers.  The music he performs is thus a bridge to the music and culture of bygone eras.  In the past 25 years his lively and endearing music has been featured in thousands of programs at RV resorts, civic concerts, conventions, public and private venues. As a roster artist for the Arizona Commission on the Arts since 1986, he has brought this acoustic treasure to civic concert audiences and school children statewide.  Millions of tourists have heard his fiddle music broadcast through the streets of Rawhide, and millions more have heard it featured on the soundtrack of Arizona State Fair TV commercials. In recent years he has taken his bands on the road, from Georgia to British Columbia, from Illinois to California.  In five international tours, 'Doc' charmed audiences in Switzerland, Austria, Germany, England, Scotland & The Dominican Republic with his dynamic fiddling and authentic western music, perhaps making 'Doc' the most widely heard fiddler in Arizona history.  In 2009 he released a DVD (www.paulrolland.net) of his father Paul Rolland's string pedagogy film series "The Teaching of Action in String Playing" that received top marks in reviews by STRAD magazine and the American String Teacher journal. In 2010 during his month-long European tour he taught fiddle workshops at string teacher conferences in Germany and Belgium and performed in England and Scotland. In 2011 he performed and taught fiddle workshops at a Suzuki school in Kansas, at the Paul Rolland Workshop at George Mason University in Virginia, and at the University of Illinois.  In the summer of 2011 he launched the annual Rolland Fiddle Camp near Westcliffe, Colorado.  In December 2011 and early January 2012 he performed with the Rolland Family Band in a series of 10 concerts in China as part of a tour with The American Festival Orchestra.

 

* Peter Rolland is a 3-time national champion; he was awarded the “Fanciest Fiddler” prize in 2000 and the “Best Male Entertainer” in the certified division in 2001 & 2002 at the National Old-time Fiddler’s Contest at Weiser Idaho.  His name and photo are commemorated at the National Old Time Fiddlers Hall of Fame.

* Peter Rolland is the 1996-7 Arizona State Fiddle Champion & is an 8-time Arizona State Adult Fiddle Champion;

* Teacher of 12 Arizona State Fiddle Champions and many professional fiddlers with national performing credits;

* Taught a lecture course at ASU (MUS 354) in Country & Western Music history from spring 2003 - Spring 2006.

* Taught old-time fiddling, folk music and bluegrass music classes and his class for string teachers entitled “What Every Music Educator Needs To Know About Old-Time Fiddling” at six western universities;

* Received several grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and The Arizona Commission on the Arts for field research in old-time fiddling;

* Frequent judge at fiddle contests in Arizona; has three times been a judge at the National Old Time Fiddle Championship at Weiser Idaho;

* Was specially honored by the Wickenburg Four Corners Country Music Festival for his unique and many contributions to Arizona folk and country music;

* Taught folk music for 3 years at the Florence penitentiary in a program sponsored by the Arizona Commission on the Arts;

* 'Doc' Rolland's bands have won over a dozen first place awards at The Wickenburg Four Corners Bluegrass competitions.

* 'Doc' Rolland's groups (THE NIGHT RIDERS, THE ROLLAND FAMILY, CROSSBOW CELTIC ENSEMBLE, THE PARADOX BLUEGRASS BAND & THE COWBOY LEGENDS™ have given many hundreds of concerts throughout Arizona, Colorado, & California.

* His work in folk music was featured in an annual series of concerts at two venues: The Kerr Cultural Center in Scottsdale (1981-1998) and The Chandler Center for the Arts (1994-1998);

* Member of the Arizona Commission on the Arts touring roster for over two decades;

* Bandleader at Plum Creek Ranch Steakhouse in Tempe from December ‘95 through January ‘97.

* Performed ca 80 dates a year at all Sundown Cookouts at Rawhide, 1998-2002. Spring 2003, 21 sets/weekend in front of steakhouse;

* FEATURED ACT at the 2003 Southeast Cowboy Music Symposium near Atlanta, Georgia; featured act at several country music festivals in Switzerland in June 2004 & 2005; performed at country music festival at Wieselburg Austria in August 2005; featured National Touring Artist at Red Bluff CA in October 2005 in conjunction with the Western Open.  In 2010 he will give a series of fiddle workshops and lectures in Germany and Belgium and perform at the Moniaive Folk Festival in Scotland and a series of house and village concerts in the UK.

* SOLO ARTIST RESIDENCIES: City of Page, Horizon Elementary (Glendale), Ingleside Middle School, Navajo Elementary, Yarnell School, Tonalea School (Scottsdale), Littleton Elementary (Littleton, AZ); Bicentennial School (Glendale); Kingswood Elementary (Phoenix), Lake Havasu City and others.

* RECENT PERFORMANCES: 10 concerts with the Rolland Family Band as part of the American Festival Orchestra tour to China, Concerts for the American Embassy in the Dominican Republic (Santiago and Santa Domingo), Carefree Inn Opera House, Country music festivals in Weiselburg Austria, Geneva, Aubonne and Col De Roche in Switzerland, Burnaby (British Columbia), The Sun Bowl, Rawhide, countless RV resorts, Laughlin (Nevada), Plum Creek Ranch Steakhouse (Tempe), Rockin’ R Ranch (Mesa), Kerr Cultural Center (Scottsdale), Chandler Center for the Arts (Chandler), Glendale Library, Superstition Springs Mall Concert Series, El Pedregal Concert Series, Mesa Out To Lunch Series, Buckeye Bluegrass Festival, Pioneer Bluegrass Festival, Prescott Bluegrass Festival, Blythe CA Bluegrass Festival, Thew School (Tempe), Springerville/Eager civic concert series, St. John’s civic concert series, La Jolla Arts Festival, Douglas AZ International Festival, Gilbert AZ, Pearce AZ, Westminster Artist Series (Denver,  Colorado), Lake Havasu City, Jones Theater (Westcliffe Colorado), Black Forest Community Center (Black Forest, Colorado), Payson Museum (Payson AZ), Tucson Then & Now Festival, and more.  Performed 50-250 times a year for the past 27 years.