Julio Roloff

Julio Roloff is a Cuban-American composer of electro-acoustic, computer and experimental music, professor and producer. Born in Havana, Cuba in 1951, and is naturalized American Citizen, he started his musical education at the Conservatory Amadeo Roldan in his native city where he studied double-bass with professors Orestes Urfe and Angel Nenov, percussion with professors Domingo Aragu and Roberto Concepcion and music theory with professors Nereida Borges, Zoila Gomez, Aida Teseiro, Nidia Fournier and Carmen Valdes Sicardo.

Continued studies at Ignacio Cervantes Professional School of Music where he studied double-bass with professor Italo Besa, percussion with professor Fausto Garcia Rivera and music theory with professors Magaly Ruiz, Lazaro Zayas and Dolores Torres.

Later he earned a Bachelor degree in music theory and composition from the Higher Institute of Art where he studied with professors Roberto Valera, Carlos Farinas, Harold Gramatges, Sergio Fernandez Barroso, Felix Guerrero, Alfredo Diez- Nieto and Armando Romeu.

In 1981 during the First International Festival of Electro-acoustic Music Varadero Spring he attended master classes in composition with professors Lejaren Hiller and Manuel Enriquez, that same year during the International Composition Workshop held by UNESCO in Vorovetz, Bulgaria, he attended master classes in composition with professors Ton de Leeuw and Marin Goleminov, in 1984 during the First Havana International Music Festival held by UNEAC he attended master classes in composition with professors Luigi Nono and Witold Rudzinski.

In addition he attended post-graduate courses in electro-acoustics and sound engineering with professors Jerzy Belc and Juan Blanco, as well as MIDI and computer music programs workshops with composers Andrew Schloss and Neil Leonard.

As a performer he worked with several music ensembles and orchestras including an eleven years tenure with the National Symphonic Opera and Ballet Orchestra, currently he is a member of the experimental music ensemble Punto.

Appointed music professor at both, the Conservatory Amadeo Roldan and the School of Music of the National School of Art in 1981, in 1984 he was hired as senior producer at EGREM Recording Studios, that year he collaborated with pioneer avantgarde composer Juan Blanco and others in the foundation of the Electro-acoustic Music Studio TIME, later re-named Laboratorio Nacional de Musica Electroacustica (LNME).

Known for his scores for percussion instruments as well as for his electro-acoustic and computer music for solo tape and for acoustic instruments and electronics, his catalog includes chamber and symphonic music and music for stage and films.

Aesthetically, his music is characterized by the influence of the master composers of the Twentieth Century, a multicultural heritage from Classic Rock and Jazz to Afro-Cuban music, a transparent language and the creative use of new, experimental and advanced techniques in composition.

His musical works have been recorded, broadcasted and performed in concerts, festivals and music forums throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas by distinguished soloist and ensembles .