Rolf Haas, Violin

Biography

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. No matter if he plays in front of 1 or 1,000 people, he does his best to convey a wide range of emotions, and to tell a musical story, a journey which establishes a connection with music lovers in the audience. In addition to this, Rolf's own personal musical journey has also been very unique.
Rolf comes from a musical family. His Grandparents were both professional classical musicians and it was through them that he was started on the violin at the age of 5. Rolf quickly developed an affinity for unknown and unusual works, and as he grew up, became more and more moved by the playing of the old masters of the instrument. He has won numerous prizes at competitions in the USA, and has been featured in final concerts of the many masterclasses that he has attended throughout the years. His primary studies have been with Professor Yair Kless in Europe, and before that Professor Sally O'Reilly at the University of Minnesota. Mr. Haas also was taught how to play the viola by his Grandfather when Rolf was 14 years old and has played much chamber music on the instrument. He has played concerts all over the world in various capacities, notable performances are: soloist with the St.Paul Chamber Orchestra, Featured Soloist for the Georgian Ballet playing Stravinsky Duo Concertante, and recently this year has done a short European tour as soloist playing the Violin Concerto by Alban Berg to wonderful reviews. 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's familial musical influence omnipresent, he, as he grew up, started to acquire musical tastes of his own. Through his upbringing in Minneapolis he became very passionate about both Hardcore Punk, and Hip Hop. This passion turned quickly into action as he formed his first band when he taught himself electric guitar and bass guitar at 14. Rolf immersed himself in both the local hardcore and hiphop scenes from an early age and this eventually culminated in a punk rock'n'roll band called Rolf and The Other Guys (to this day he dislikes this name that other members decided on). Rolf and The Other Guys played numerous shows around the Twin Cities, to great responses. A few years into college, after the other members had gone their separate ways, Rolf was itching to create and play original music yet again. He, in the absence of trustworthy characters in his life at this point, decided to start producing hiphop instrumentals for local artists. After a short time, these songs became so special to him that he decided he could no longer part with them so easily. This is how Rolf's group Nocturnal Unit was born. Nocturnal Unit takes all of Rolf's influences and forms something unique in the worlds of both HipHop and Hardcore Punk. It is comprised of only his family, 3 cousins and sister. Family and Loyalty is very important to Rolf and this is reflected in the product and songs of both Nocturnal Unit and his violin playing. Rolf continues to progress with Nocturnal Unit, who already have 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.
At this point in time, through a life in both classical and popular music. Rolf began to notice similarities, and that doing one discipline helped the other, opening his mind. This began to be a focal point in Rolf's goal, to look at things from different perspectives, always progressing and opening new neuronal pathways. In the classical music world, Rolf became excited more and more about making the music come alive and jump off the page, looking at interpretation from a different perspective than the traditional while still maintaining the integrity built upon the foundations of classical thought which Rolf has been taught most of his life. Also, the freedom of the live setting for both HipHop and Punk Rock has influenced him in his classical concerts. The ability to connect with an audience so they can feel involved enough to share a moment for the love of music together is very important to him; as is encouraging discussion and new thoughts about classical music. In the popular music realm, his violin playing and classical training has helped him to create compositions in the realm of hiphop, not just your average 'beats'. Increasing skills, precision, knowledge and understanding learned from violin also began to make apparent key concepts that remain similar in all styles of effective music. Sometimes even sampling classical works, or playing the violin on Nocturnal Unit songs, 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.
In the future years Rolf hopes to promote independence and individuality through his music, both classical and otherwise. Everything done up until this point has been done from scratch, like a home cooked meal, and this is a result of his powerful inclinations toward artistic independence. Eventually, Rolf hopes to put out violin albums on his own independent label: Nocturnal Unit Productions, (and through this), also to help and encourage other artists from future generations to be themselves, creative and unapologetic. He hopes to continue and build upon the rich tapestry of classical music by connecting his experiences outside the classical music world, to the actual music itself, and to show that with hard work and an open mind, these experiences can translate into beautiful musical ideas, colors, and emotions. Rolf also hopes to continue to show that all of the arts are connected, and plans to be relentless in the struggle to support the arts. He will continue to bring creative and exciting new interpretations to the classical music violin repertoire, from any and all time periods.
Rolf Haas is truly a unique individual in today's music world. Someone with the experience, knowledge, wisdom and emotional breadth to make music jump off the page to be enjoyed by audiences; but also with a fierce independent streak, determination and willpower, and the unapologetic courage to be himself, no matter how different this makes him. "Against the grain, fighting for change" -Nocturnal Unit. Rolf Haas is 'fearless'.