Rolf Haas

Violinist Rolf Haas is 'fearless' (Minneapolis Star Tribune). As a musician who is not ashamed to take risks, Rolf combines virtuosity and an expansive sound palette playing impactful performances to audiences all across the globe. A Minneapolis native, He has won numerous prizes at competitions in the USA, including prizes in MTNA, ASTA, etc, and has been featured in concerts at festivals such as Meadowmount (NY), The International Summer String Academy (Czech Republic), The Sommer-Akademie at the Mozarteum, (Salzburg, Austria), and many others. His primary studies took place with Professor Yair Kless in Graz, Austria, and with Professor Sally O'Reilly at the University of Minnesota. He has played concerts all over the world in various capacities, notable past performances are: soloist with the St.Paul Chamber Orchestra, Featured Soloist for the Georgian Ballet playing Stravinsky Duo Concertante, and a short European tour as soloist playing the Violin Concerto by Alban Berg. Recently, Rolf organized and performed recitals in Berlin (Germany), Krakow (Poland), Chicago (USA), Ibiza (Spain) as well as making his London Debut earlier this year with Pianist Miki Aoki. He has worked with and performed works by World Renowned Composer Kaija Saariaho in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Rolf's mother is an artist, and Rolf has frequently been involved in performances with visual artists, helping to show a unity between the disciplines. Mr. Haas plays on his grandfather's Gagliano. The world premier of the Violin Concerto by Alban Berg was played by his grandfather's teacher Louis Krasner on this instrument. Rolf is also a respected hip-hop artist (emcee/producer). He is one of the founding members of Nocturnal Unit: a group comprised of only his blood related family, 3 cousins and sister. In addition to playing energetic and passionate hip-hop shows in ever-expanding capacities, the group has released 1 full length album and are in the process of releasing a set of 7 singles which combines to make their second full length. Rolf will be releasing his first solo hip-hop album this upcoming season. In some Nocturnal Unit songs, Rolf plays his violin, and occasionally samples classical works. Through this, Rolf hopes to introduce people to classical music in a new way that will promote appreciation of the art amongst those who might never have or wanted to listen to classical music before.