Born and
educated in France, where he began to make bows more than 46 years ago, Benoît Rolland now resides in Boston, Massachusetts. A musician as well as master artisan, Benoit's life is dedicated to music and to developing the French school of fine bow making.
For Benoit, bow making is as much a philosophy as a creation, and this is reflected in his life path. With perfect pitch, he learned to read and write
music as though he was learning language. Before turning to the vocation of bow making, music and performance were integral parts of his life. He developed early musical skills at
the piano, rigorously and daily practicing the instrument since age five, under the mentoring of renowned pianist Germaine Thyssens-Valentin, his grandmother. She was
a close friend to the composer Olivier Messiaen, whose music profoundly impressed Benoit . After the piano, he chose the violin. At sixteen, he graduated from the
Conservatoire de Paris and Versailles with a focus on violin and composition. As a young violinist, he learned that a bow can influence the behavior of both the violin
and the player.
In 2013, Benoit Rolland proposes a fundamental evolution of the classical bow with his creation of the Galliane™ frog that sets the hair at an ergonomic angle which
follows the musician's natural wrist movement. In 2017, he introduces a new design for the conductor baton.
Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres and MacArthur Fellow, recognized among talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits, Benoit Rolland dedicates
his life to music and to the preservation and advancement of the art of bow making.
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