Rolando Valdés is a Mexican pianist, born in 1990, who currently lives in Germany, holding a Master’s degree in piano performance and currently studying the Konzertexam (highest music degree in Germany) under the guidance of Grigory Gruzman and Balázs Szokolay at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar.

He has held an Excellence scholarship from the Swiss government and is also a participant of the Scholarship Yehudi Menuhin. He has performed concerts in Mexico, France, Germany, Poland, Austria, Hungary, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the USA, and Japan.

He began his studies at a very young age and in 2001 enrolled in Escuela Superior de Música INBA in Mexico City, under the tutelage of Eduardo Arzate, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree of music in piano performance with high honors. In 2011, he continued his studies in Germany, where Balázs Szokolay took him as his student to pursue an Artist Diploma and later in 2014, a Master in Chamber Music at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt in Weimar. 

He acquired a Master’s degree in Performance at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste in Zurich, Switzerland, where he studied with the world-famous pianist Konstantin Scherbakov, and he also studied Orchestral Conducting with Mark Kissoczy. In Mexico, he has performed more than 100 public concerts in more than 15 different cities, playing with the Fine Arts Chamber Orchestra, Yucatan Symphony Orchestra, Eduardo Mata Orchestra, Coahuila Camerata, Oaxaca Symphony Orchestra, Nuevo Leon Symphony Orchestra, the Mexican National Symphony Orchestra, and several university orchestras, sometimes conducting them from the piano. 

In Germany, he played in more than 15 cities and had his debut as a soloist in the  conducting competition Hans von Bülow, where he both played and conducted the prestigious Meininger Philharmonie Orchestra, playing later on as well with the Jenaer Philharmonie. 

He has been a winner and finalist of the most recognized international competitions in Germany, France, and Mexico, both as a soloist and with chamber music ensembles such as Pianale klavierakademie, Concours International de Lyon, Merida International Piano Competition, Ricardo Castro National Competition 2012, and Parnassos National, among others.

He has attended several masterclasses and piano festivals in France, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, and Mexico, during which he has taken lessons with Alexander Gavrylyuk, Ferenc Rados, Aquiles delle Vigne, Friedemann Rieger, Joaquín Soriano, Uta Weyand, Peter Nagy, Akiko Ebi, Jacques Rouvier, Claudio Martinez, and Zoltán Kocsis, among others. He also contributes regularly in masterclasses in different Mexican universities, such as Escuela Superior de Musica, Universidad Veracruzana, and Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon.

He was recently a finalist in the Vigo City Piano Competition in its “Martha Argerich Edition,” with Martha Argerich as head of the jury; other jury members included Tamas Vasary and Nelson Freire. This year, he was also accepted to take part in the second triennial Olga Kern International Piano Competition in the USA. 

Competitor: Second Triennial Olga Kern International Piano Competition. October 27–November 3, 2019. Albuquerque, New Mexico.