About me
Hailed as “innovative” and “stylish” by the Chicago Classical Review, violist Rose Wollman has made it her mission to create and commission new music, to cast new light on standard repertoire, to expand the vocabulary of western classical music through cross-genre collaboration, to amplify diverse voices, and to help the next generation of music students find their passion.
Rose has been guiding young musicians for decades. She currently teaches viola, violin, chamber music, string ensemble, ear training, and music theory at the University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s College. She has given viola master classes, clinics and lectures around the country, exploring subjects as diverse as intonation, chamber music skills, the collaborative process between composer and performer, and Tango performance practice. Her students are now teachers and performers around the country, inspiring their own students.
Rose is passionate about social justice and equal representation in the classical music world. She regularly commissions music and her projects are focused on finding and giving a microphone to those who have been historically denied a voice. 2024 will see the release of Breaking Glass Ceilings: Music by Unruly Women with pianist Dror Baitel, which explores the music of four female composers who did something first. In 2026 she will release Becoming America with the Wollman-Brea-Baitel Trio. This project explores the disconnect between the rhetoric surrounding the United States - the American dream, the land of opportunity - and the lived experiences of many Americans today. Rose commissioned five composers representing groups that are still marginalized in American culture to compose works for viola, soprano and piano that explore life in America as a minority.
Violists, as a breed, create nurturing and supportive communities and Rose is proud to contribute to this culture. She serves on the board of the American Viola Society, the largest and most prestigious organization dedicated to American violists in the U.S. She is also the executive director of SBOVMusic (Sounds Better on Viola), a recording label and hub dedicated to the promotion and celebration of violists and viola music. The viola has only recently stepped into its place as an instrument worthy of substantial solo repertoire, and Rose is committed to expanding this canon. She commissions, arranges, and composes works for the viola, and helps these works (and the violists who perform them) reach their audiences.
Rose holds a D.M. from the IU Jacobs School of music, as well as degrees from the New England Conservatory and the University of Illinois. Her teachers include Atar Arad, Masumi Rostad, Carol Rodland, Rudolf Haken and Julia Adams. For more information, visit www.rosewollman.com and www.sbovmusic.com.