Rolando Sanz Adjunct Instructor Performing Arts
- Degrees
- M.M., A.D., Yale University
B.M., The Catholic University of America
Additional Training: Music Academy of the West, Aspen Music Festival - Languages Spoken
- Spanish, English, Italian, French
- Bio
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Rolando Sanz is a visionary performing arts executive who works at the crossroads of the industry, bridging arts administration, production, education, and performance. With over two decades of experience in the field, he is a proven collaborator with a true multidisciplinary perspective and a reputation as an unflappable, hands-on leader.
Rolando has been the CEO & Producing Artistic Director for Young Artists of America (YAA) at Strathmore for the past decade, overseeing both the administrative and artistic operations of the nonprofit organization. His principal responsibilities include: global strategic planning, artistic programming, facilities management for multiple venues, fundraising and donor relations, master budget creation and oversight, fiscal reporting and annual audit, board development, and the recruitment and administration of over 80 staff members. As a result of his leadership, YAA continues to flourish and has quickly become one of the leading collaborative arts education organizations in the region.
With a specialized expertise in large-scale, multidisciplinary stage and television works, Rolando has been responsible for numerous innovative and successful productions, in collaboration with some of the leading performing arts venues in the region. In 2016, he commissioned and executive produced the world-premiere of a new concept opera by Broadway creative Andrew Lippa called I Am Anne Hutchinson / I Am Harvey Milk, starring Kristin Chenoweth at the Music Center at Strathmore. In 2017, he commissioned and executive produced a world-premiere television program with Maryland Public Television (PBS) called The Circle of Life: The Songs of Tim Rice, curated by Sir Tim Rice himself, which won an Emmy® award in 2018. Additional important regional productions helmed by Sanz include Songs for a New World with Jason Robert Brown, Children of Eden with Stephen Schwartz, as well as genre-bending premieres of West Side Story + Roméo et Juliette and Madama Butterfly & Miss Saigon. Rolando also successfully navigated the pivot of all arts programming at YAA during the global pandemic to include a full array of virtual instruction as well as overseeing 14 complete digital productions in 2020-2021, including full film productions of Sondheim’s Into the Woods and Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies, the latter of which was in collaboration with six leading regional arts organizations from traditionally underresourced populations. Rolando continues to consult and program music, theatre, and dance events for the region’s leading venues, including The Kennedy Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center (NYC), Arsht Center (Miami) The Clarice, Music Center at Strathmore, Maryland Hall, UMBC, as well as a return to Maryland Public Television in 2023.
Besides his impactful work as an arts administrator and producer, Rolando has also had the privilege of performing as a principal artist for over a decade with some of the nation’s leading symphonies and opera companies, including The Metropolitan Opera (NYC), Carnegie Hall (NYC), Michigan Opera Theatre (Detroit), Spoleto Festival USA (SC), Florentine Opera (Milwaukee), Virginia Opera, Pacific Symphony (CA), Princeton Festival (NJ), as well as with most of the DC region’s performing arts organizations.
With a passion for arts education, Rolando has taught on the faculty of various arts training programs, including Teatro Nuovo (NYC), American University (DC), and Bel Canto in Tuscany (Italy). Rolando is a graduate of the Yale University School of Music, has sung the national anthem for the Baltimore Orioles Opening Day ceremonies since 2012, and currently serves as a judge for the Helen Hayes Awards and the Brandon Victor Dixon Awards.
rolandosanz.com
- See Also
- For the Media
- To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.
Teaching
Fall 2024
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MUS-021 Private Instrument Study: Voice
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MUS-022 Private Instrument Study: Voice
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MUS-121 Private Instrument/Vocal Study: Voice
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MUS-122 Private Instrument/Vocal Study: Voice
Spring 2025
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MUS-021 Private Instrument Study: Voice
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MUS-022 Private Instrument Study: Voice
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MUS-121 Private Instrument/Vocal Study: Voice
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MUS-122 Private Instrument/Vocal Study: Voice