Roland Pöntinen is a contemporary Swedish pianist and composer known for his vast repertoire and his expertise as both a soloist and an accompanist. He is also a prolific recording artist who appears on over 80 albums. He was born in 1963, in Stockholm, Sweden, and he started playing the piano at a very young age. His father was an engineer and a talented pianist who played at home for his own enjoyment. Pöntinen began improvising at the piano around the age of five, and he also played the violin. His early piano instructors included Asta Schumacher, Vera Knorr, and Stanislav Knorr, and he studied with Gunnar Hallhagen at both the Adolf Frederik’s Music School and the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in Stockholm. Later he sought additional instruction from Menahem Pressler and György Sebok and was later a student of Elisabeth Leonskaja at Indiana University. He became internationally known after his debut performance of Franck’s Symphonic Variations with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in 1981. That same year, he also appeared on the album Igor Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps; L'Oiseau de Feu; Petrouchka; he composed The Girl from Brazil for trumpet and piano, and Camera for trombone and piano. In 1984, he released his debut solo album, Roland Pöntinen Plays Russian Piano Music, and he has since become a prolific recording artist and collaborator. As an accompanist, Pöntinen is in high demand and he has performed and recorded with Barbara Hendricks, Love Derwinger, Christian Lindberg, and many others. He became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in 2002, and at the Verbier Festival of 2007, he performed the world premiere of Shchedrin’s Romantic Duets with the composer. Pöntinen premiered his Danse Serpentine at Wigmore Hall in 2010 with clarinetist Martin Fröst, and he also made an expanded arrangement for chamber ensemble. Later in the 2010s he toured Japan, Taiwan, and Europe, and recorded with the Artic Philharmonic Orchestra led by Christian Lindberg. Since 2020, Pöntinen has released Johannes Brahms: The Five Sonatas for Violin & Piano, Vol. 2, Russian Ballads: Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Kissin, and Szymanowski: Mythes- Music for Violin & Piano. ~ RJ Lambert, Rovi