Rolland, Paul (1911-1978) | University of Illinois Archives

Paul Rolland (1911-1978) was born on November 21, 1911 in Budapest under the name Pali Reisman. He began his studies on the violin at age 11 with the Hungarian violinist Jenö Hubay. At age 18 Reisman studied with Dezsö Rados. In 1933, he began his studies at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest under Imre Waldbauer and Leo Weiner. While in Budapest, he served as the first violinist of the Budapest Symphony and taught violin at the Gimes Institute of Music. He emigrated to the United States in 1938, traveling with the Pro Ideal Quartet to the West Minster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. Around 1940 Reisman earned a position with Trenton Symphony Orchestra, playing in the first stand of violas.  Reisman joined the faculty of Simpson College in Indanola, Iowa in 1942, leading their orchestra and string program. In 1943, he also became a member of the Lerner String Quartet. Reisman's wife, Clara, joined Reisman on faculty at Simpson College around this time. Like her husband, she had graduated from the Royal Hungarian Academy of Music in 1939 with a degree in piano performance. While in Iowa, Reisman also served as the choir director at First Presbyterian Church in Indianola.

Following the outbreak of World War II, Paul and Clara Reisman changed their last name to Rolland, adopting an anglicized name to avoid the pervasive anti-German sentiment among US citizens. In 1945, Rolland joined the faculty of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Rolland was instrumental in establishing and making alterations to the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in performance. At the University, he performed regularly with the Illinois String Trio. He also gave regular faculty recitals alongside prominent faculty members. While John Kuypers was the director of the School of Music, Rolland also gave performances as principal of the University of Illinois Symphony Orchestra, which was conducted by serveral prominant composers and conductors, including Igor Stravinsky.

Rolland's research principally considered methods of teaching young children in group settings. Beginning in 1954, Rolland noticed that several of his younger students needed additional support holding their full-size violin bows, so he constructed the "Rolland Bow Grip." This research endeavor turned into a side business called the String Research Company, which was operated out of Rolland's home. Following this, Rolland began exploring the work of Shinichi Suzuki in a project that led to Suzuki's US Talent Education Tour and Rolland's film on the same subject. In 1966, Rolland received government funding from the Department of Education to direct the University of Illinois String Research Project. The collaborative project analyzed methods of teaching violin to young students, analyzing and making recommendations for improving bow holds, arm movements, and body positions. It also considered appropriate literature for young students and rote learning methods, which was derived in part from Suzuki's method. The project resulted in his foundational method book, The Teaching of Action of String Playing; several publications by project researchers Margaret Farish, Frances Hellebrandt, and Richard Colwell; as well as a series of pedagogical films that are still used by the Paul Rolland Society and those who practice the Rolland Method. The resulting method served as a tool for both young students and violin instructors.

In addition to his innovative research, Rolland served the University in several professional organizations. In 1946, Rolland became a founding member of the American String Teacher's Association (ASTA). Four years later, Rolland became the first editor of the ASTA's  journal, American String Teacher. He would serve as the editor of this publication until 1960. Under the auspices of the ASTA, Rolland assisted with the publication of several important treatises on the violin, including Joseph Szigeti's Ten Beethoven Sonatas for Violin and Piano. In 1964 he became the president of the ASTA, serving a two year term. Rolland used his time as president to leverage more opportunities to develop pedagogical programs in the American string world, including a string teaching symposium at Tanglewood, numerous workshops, and eventually the Illinois String Research Project itself. Because of his involvement with ASTA, Rolland was invited to join several other music education organizations, including the European String Teachers Assocation (ESTA), Music Educators National Conference (MENC), Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), and several other international organizations.

Rolland also gave frequent workshops, serving as a guest performer and conductor for youth programs and festivals across the country. Shortly after ariving at Illinois, Rolland joined the faculty of the Illinois Summer Youth Music program, which was sponsored by the Illinois Music Extension Office. He also gave a series of radio workshops over WILL Radio in 1946. In 1959 he served as string faculty member at the national summer camp for music at Interlochen. As president of the ASTA, Rolland served as a guest clinician to several regional branches of the ASTA. He also used his sabbaticals as opportunities to give workshops. In 1961 he received State Department funding to tour Austria, West Germany, Hungary, Russia, Yugoslavia, Turkey, and Israel. Throughout this trip, Rolland gave workshops and lectures. He received additional additional funding to travel to the UK in 1975 and Austria, Hungary,Sweden, Australia, and New Zealand in 1978.

In 1974, Rolland became a founding member of the National Academy of the Arts, an early charter high school located in Urbana, Illinois. Serving as the school's string instructor, Rolland helped expand the program throughout the mid-1970s and accepted many talented students including Lucia Lin. After Rolland died in 1978 in Champaign, Illinois, the National Academy of Music renamed it's orchestra the Paul Rolland Orchestra.