The German counter-tenor and radio host, Roland Kunz, studied musicology, art history and literature in Saarbrücken. Since 1983 he is a freelancer moderatorisch and programmgestalterisch for cultural waves of the ARD, in particular the Saarländischer Rundfunk. In addition, he completed singing studies with Marius van Altena in the Netherlands, Karl-Heinz Jarius in Frankfurt am Main and master-classes with Jochen Kowalski, David Cordier and Paul Esswood, among others.
For several years Roland Kunz worked with the Collegium Vocale Gent (Director: Philippe Herreweghe), Balthasar-Neumann-Chor (Director: Thomas Hengelbrock) and Kammerchor Stuttgart (Director: Frieder Bernius). He collaborated with, among others, Ton Koopman and Gustav Leonhardt.
In 1998, Roland Kunz founded the music group Orlando & die Unerlösten and tries to transcend the boundaries between classical and modern with extraordinary projects. In doing so, he created a style that he calls Neue Vergangenheit ("NewPast"), a synonym for the combination of the Baroque counter-tenor voice with elements of pop, jazz and other styles. Among others, in collaboration with counter-tenor Andreas Scholl, symphonically arranged counter-tenor duets and a light symphony were performed in performances with Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken, Nürnberger Symphoniker and Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern. In 2005 he set Jonction III, one of the most important paintings of the Quadriga painter Karl Otto Götz. For 2010, he received the commission by Studio Franken des Bayerischen Rundfunks for the composition of the full-length oratorio Der Seele Ruh for soloists, choir, orchestra and band. In 2011 he founded the Formation Orlando Circle.
Roland Kunz was awarded the Cultural Award of the Landkreises Saarlouis in 1995 and Cultural Award of the City of Saarlouis in 2011. Also in 2011 he was nominated for the Prix Europa, the most important European Radio Prize. For 30 years, the musician and radio host has been involved in numerous projects to teach young people classical music. He analyzes and explains classical scores in large orchestral concerts titled Musik für Junge Ohren (Music for Young Ears). |