1. 2019 Doc Rolland Mini-Fiddle Camp July 24-26 at Delta Colorado and Montrose Fiddle Contest July 27
2. 2019 Paul Rolland String Pedagogy Workshop & Doc's fiddle class at the University of Illinois July 7-13
3. Doc Rolland's Americana String Ensemble's China tour is now on YouTube and Vimeo
4. Doc Rolland 2018 Colorado summer tour with the Jazz Cowboys Trio featuring Igor Glenn & Kit Simon
5. The 2018 Rolland Fiddle Camp 
6. The Mountain View Fiddlers  
7. Peter Rolland received the 2016 Southwest Folklife Alliance Masters Apprentice award  
8. Reflections on a great 2017 Rolland Fiddle Camp
9. This year's violin crop and holiday greetings  
10. 2018 Paul Rolland String Pedagogy Workshop at the University of Illinois  
12. 2014 China Tour by Doc Rolland's Americana String Ensemble  
13. 2012 World Premiere of my Fiddle Concerto "The Traveler's Footprints" with the Chandler Symphony    Orchestra and performance by the Rolland Family Band  
14. Rolland Fiddle Camp Archives

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 2019 summer news: Doc Rolland will teach a 3-day "mini" fiddle camp July 24, 25 & 26 in Delta Colorado and then judge the Montrose CO fiddle contest on July 27

The Level 1 class for less advanced players will be from 9am to noon daily.
The Level 2 class for more advanced players will be from 1:30-5pm daily.

Attendees:  Any child or adult with an interest in old-time fiddling and at least basic playing skills on the violin or viola is welcome to enroll.   

Cost for all three half days:  Level 1: $100;  Level 2: $150
          (private lessons will be available for a separate fee)

Location:  a private home in Delta, Colorado (19 miles northwest of Montrose; address and directions provided upon registration)

Registration: contact Dorcha Boisen 970-901-2624; dorchaboisen@gmail.com

More info: contact Doc Rolland 602-618-6285; peterrolland@cox.net
    For a general description of Doc's teaching methods, click here

 2019 more summer news: Doc Rolland will teach a fiddle workshop July 8-12 at the Paul Rolland String Pedagogy Workshop at the University of Illinois.

Peter & Gail Rolland will also give an evening fiddle concert on Wed. July 10 as part of the workshop. 
Enrollment has almost doubled since last year's workshop and Kids Kamp.  It promises to be a really great event with participants coming from all over the globe.  For more information, click here.

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 29 music videos from Doc Rolland's Americana String Ensemble 2014 China Tour, now on YouTube and Vimeo!
The 9-pc acoustic band plus 2 dancers gave 24 concerts at major civic venues throughout China in August 2014.  The program featured fiddling, cowboy, country, Celtic, Cajun, swing, bluegrass and old-time music.  Traveling by bus, bullet train and airplane, the group logged 10,000 miles inside China during the 23-city, 34-day tour.  Most audience members couldn't understand the lyrics, but the dancers helped them enjoy the program, and Doc's emcee work was deliberately slow and carefully enunciated, so that people with some English comprehension could understand the song introductions.  Appreciative audiences of 300-1500 requested encores and gave the group standing ovations at every show.  Sponsors allowed us to make a casual video archive of the program with a single camera operated by our interpreter.  I'm very to announce that the 29 tour songs and tunes can now be viewed on YouTube and Vimeo.  The entire work is on a YouTube Channel named "Peter Rolland".  The videos load more quickly on Vimeo; you can watch the first set by clicking here.  You can watch the second set on Vimeo by clicking here. 

Tour Personnel: Peter Rolland, director, music arranger & lead fiddle; Ben Shu, fiddle; Giselle Lee, fiddle & clawhammer banjo; Igor Glenn, bass; Annie Trimble and Ron Privett, guitars; Bryan Seegers, mandolin & Scruggs style banjo; Nancy Bucy, clarinet & piano; Ken Bucy, percussion; Steve Conrad, choreographer & dancer; Lacey Maynard, dancer; Jing An Shu, interpreter.

Songs in the 1st set: Bile Them Cabbage Down; East Tennessee Blues; Caravan; Cotton Eyed Joe; The Old Chisholm Trail; Washington Lee Swing & Tiger Rag; South of the Border Down Mexico Way; Don't Fence Me In; I Want To Be A Cowboy Sweetheart; Jumbalaya; Angeline the Baker; Fiddling Around; The Moon Represents My Heart; The Orange Blossom Special

Songs in the 2nd set: DDAD Doodad; A Beautiful Life; Banish Misfortune Celtic medley; Where The Soul of Man Never Dies; I've Got The World On A String; Uncle Pen; Cripple Creek; Jolie Blon; Jessie Polka; South; Faded Love/Maiden's Prayer medley; Dance of the Yao People; September Mountain Stomp (Doc's original comedy tune); Roll The Beads Curtain; Earl Mitton's Breakdown

For bookings contact Peter Rolland at peterrolland@cox.net or 602-618-6285


Igor Glenn is an entertaining dynamo with a 4-octave vocal range.  His credits are legion, including world tours as a member of the famed New Christy Minstrels.  During his tenure with the Minstrels, he appeared on network TV with Johnny Carson, David Frost, Bob Hope, and as a solo act he was a 3-time winner of Chuck Barris' Gong Show.  He has shared the stage with Benny Goodman, Rod McKuen, Barry McGuire, Roger McGuin and John Denver.  Igor is the founder of The Jazz Cowboys, a unique and entertaining traditional jazz band with a long history and a large fan-base around the USA.  The 7-piece version of Igor's Jazz Cowboys, which combined horns & strings on traditional jazz, folk and western swing material, was indeed at one time one of the most popular bands on the Dixieland festival circuit.  Listen to these tracks featuring Igor:

THE HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN

FOLSOM PRISON BLUES, RECORDED LIVE WITH THE NEW CHRISTY MINSTRELS

AIN'T SHE SWEET

STREETS OF LAREDO

HOME ON THE RANGE

Igor and Doc, both Phoenix area bandleaders, have complementary skills, including natural vocal harmony, and over the last 35 years they have collaborated countless times on each others' band projects, both stateside and abroad, the most recent of which was Doc's 24-concert tour of major civic venues throughout China with Doc Rolland's Americana String Ensemble in 2014.


Doc Rolland is an Arizona State Fiddle Champion and a 3-time certified division national fiddle champion, and fluent in bluegrass, country, old-time string band, cowboy, Cajun, Celtic, western swing music and most points between.  He has done 8 international tours including four with Igor.  His masterful and soulful fiddling, powerful vocals, and infectious exuberance underpin his uncanny ability to draw audiences into the fascinating history of traditional country music.  It's been said he can charm the socks off a rooster.  Doc is the founder/director of ROLLAND FIDDLE CAMP in Westcliffe, Colorado.  A living link to Arizona's fiddle music history, he was a 2016 recipient of the Southwest Folklife Alliance Master-Apprentice award.  Listen to these tracks featuring Doc:

ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL

DON'T FENCE ME IN

JESSIE POLKA

TYING KNOTS IN THE DEVIL'S TAIL

EARL MITTONS BREAKDOWN


Kit Simon is a popular fixture in the Colorado music scene.  Like Igor and Doc, he's a multi-instrumentalist; he's a great lead and rhythm guitar player, singer, and proud owner of Arvada's Olde Town Pickin' Parlor.  He's also the leader of the Olde Town Swing Band.

An avid worshiper of the history of jazz and swing that has its sole roots in American Culture, he gravitates to the mix of newer influences that shapes today's roots music.  His diverse musical background has taken him as far as the South Pacific for an 8 week tour for the Armed Forces.  His record collection runs the gamut of jazz icons from Louis Armstrong to Django Reinhardt.  Swing music is in his blood.  Listen to these tracks featuring Kit:

SUGAR MOON

SWEET SUE, JUST YOU

HONEY PIE

DINAH
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Announcing the 8th edition of

Rolland Fiddle Camp
June 25 - 29, 2018
Westcliffe, Colorado
plan ahead !

TEACHERS:
I'm very happy to announce that Igor Glenn will join our 2018 faculty. 
Igor is a master musician and entertaining tour-de-force like none other.
Katie Glassman, national swing fiddle champion will be back for the 3rd time.  And, of course, the Rollands: Matt Rolland, leader of the popular national touring band RUN BOY RUN, Eden Rolland, Peter Rolland & Gail Rolland. 

For more camp information click here or click on the ROLLAND FIDDLE CAMP link on the left column panel.
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The Mountain View Fiddlers

  In September 2017 the group consisting of Doc Rolland & his apprentices from the Southwest Folklife Alliance Masters-Apprentice Award program morphed into a new fiddle-oriented group called The Mountain View Fiddlers. 

UPCOMING 2018 PERFORMANCES:
3/24/18, 2pm set; Oro Valley Fine Arts Festival; Oro Valley Marketplace
3/31/18, 6pm house concert in Mesa, (call 602-618-6285 for details);
4/8/18, 4pm house concert in Phoenix, (call 602-618-6285 for details);
5/5/18 Tucson Folk Festival; 5:30pm, Wildflower Stage;  tucsonfolkfest.org
PREVIOUS PERFORMANCES:
The Glendale Folk Festival, February 25, 2018
The Payson Opry, September 22, 2017
The Tucson Meet Yourself Festival, October 14, 2017
The Beatitudes (Phoenix), March 17, 2017

We are accepting bookings for the 2018-2019 season.

Please contact me at peterrolland@cox.net or 602-618-6285 if you are interested in booking the band or if you would like to get one of our logo T-shirts:

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 Peter Rolland was a 2016 recipient of the
Southwest Folklife Alliance Masters Apprentice award.
 

                                                                            photo by Steven Meckler, used by permission
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Reflections on a great 2017 Rolland Fiddle Camp
Jamming: lots of it
Tuesday night square dance: what fun!
Wednesday night faculty concert: packed & Wow!
Learning & epiphanies: lots of it, oh yeah!
See the camp facebook page for pictures.  
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Have a great Thanksgiving, a Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and best wishes for a wonderful 2018 from Peter & Gail Rolland.

This year’s violin crop has been very successful!!
This picture, taken in the backyard garden, shows
two nice samples almost ready for harvest.
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PAUL ROLLAND STRING PEDAGOGY WORKSHOP
University of Illinois (Urbana campus) July 22 - 28, 2018

Peter's father Paul Rolland is widely acknowledged as one of the most significant string pedagogues of the 20th century, and forty years after his passing his students continue to teach his pedagogical ideas at workshops and clinics in the USA, Brazil, Spain, and England.  Peter & Gail Rolland will teach fiddling and cello at the 2018 Paul Rolland String Pedagogy Workshop at the University of Illinois where Paul Rolland was chairman of the string department.  It was there that he designed and conducted the University of Illinois String Research Project, which formed the basis for his celebrated book and film series "The Teaching of Action In String Playing".
Also check out the Paul Rolland String Pedagogy Public Group
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2014 CHINA TOUR A GREAT SUCCESS "Doc Rolland's Americana String Ensemble" returned on September 3, 2014 from a 5-week, 24-concert, 23 city tour of China.  The 9 piece band and two dancers performed in China Poly Theaters nationwide in magnificent large theaters, many having the appearance of architectural wonders.  The band performed culturally-based American roots music in various forms, primarily old-time fiddling, old-time string band music, bluegrass, early country, traditional jazz, cowboy music, western swing music and Cajun, with a nod to our Canadian, Mexican and Celtic musical heritage, and a bow to the Chinese with arrangements of Chinese songs.  All 9 musicians sang, and the instrumentation was 3 fiddles, clawhammer and bluegrass banjos, 2 guitars, mandolin, bass, piano, clarinet and percussion.  The two dancers performed the Cotton Eyed Joe, Balboa & Charleston, Tap, Swing, Country Polka, Waltz, Fox Trot, Country 2-Step, Flatfoot, and Lindy Hop and provided a marvelous visual interpretation of the band's music.  Kudos to Steve Conrad and Lacey Maynard for the magnificent job they did lighting up the stage with their beautiful, well-choreographed dancing.  My musical companions did a fantastic job both in their features numbers and their well-rehearsed ensemble work.  The audiences ranged from 200 to 1500 in number at each of the 24 shows; they loved our music and we did encores at every show.  I was truly fortunate to have such wonderful musicians and dancers to work with:  Igor Glenn (bass), Ron Privett and Annie Trimble (guitars), Ken Bucy (percussion), Nancy Bucy (clarinet & piano), Bryan Seegers (mandolin & bluegrass banjo), Giselle Lee (clawhammer banjo & fiddle), Ben Shu (fiddle); Steve Conrad (dancer & choreographer) and Lacey Maynard (dancer).  
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YouTube videos from the May 6, 2012 WORLD PREMIERE OF MY FIDDLE CONCERTO, "The Traveler's Footprints", at the Chandler Center for the Arts performed with the Chandler Symphony Orchestra.  ALSO from the same event: video of the Rolland Family Band performing DDAD Doodad (medley of Yellin' The Shoats and Bonaparte's Retreat), Boil The Cabbage Down, Train On The Island, and Earl Mittons Breakdown.
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Videos of Student Testimonials
Photos from the 2012 Rolland Fiddle Camp
Videos of Camp Performances

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