Karolina Rojahn is a Los Angeles based pianist who has dedicated the last decade of her career to premiering and recording contemporary music repertoire. She has premiered over a hundred new works and collaborated with various classical music labels, most notably Naxos, having released over 43 recordings of chamber and solo piano music, including 5 piano concertos written specifically for her.

Karolina has travelled extensively throughout Europe and the United States as a soloist and a chamber musician collaborating directly with contemporary composers on their newest premieres. She completed eleven seasons of residency performing and commissioning new works alongside the Ludovico Ensemble, a leading contemporary music group in Boston; and is currently actively performing alongside Merge Collaborative and Summa Piano Trio around the west coast. Her passion for the Arts has brought her to perform in interdisciplinary settings, performing alongside fine artists, dancers and multimedia artists. As a co-founder and an artistic director of Merge, Karolina also serves as a curator of exhibits/performances that center around politically and socially relevant themes.

European-born, Karolina was educated both in Poland, studying under finest European virtuosos, including Kazimierz Gierzod, Milosz Magin and Paul Badura-Skoda; and the United States, where she received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in piano performance from the Boston Conservatory as a full-scholarship recipient under Michael Lewin. Karolina was born into an artist family which led her to also pursue studies in fine arts alongside music. She attended Massachusetts College of Art and Design where she studied architecture, sculpture and printmaking. Her mission as an artist is to perform in interdisciplinary settings, where merging of art disciplines enhances a human experience.

As a dedicated teaching artist Karolina served as a faculty member at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee for eight years while living in Boston and she continues her teaching career in Los Angeles.

Albums

Voices of Earth and Air Vol V

Voices of Earth and Air Vol V

Release Date: August 25, 2023
Catalog Number: NV6538
21st Century
Vocal Music
Choir
Piano
Voice
Navona Records presents VOICES OF EARTH AND AIR VOL V, a dynamic album showcasing the human voice and the powerful storytelling capabilities that vocal music wields. Six contemporary composers from around the world offer breathtaking works that stir the senses in this release, from hauntingly beautiful ballads to uplifting choral arrangements and climactic moments of triumph. With intimate settings of the human voice with instrumental accompaniment, full-fledged choir works, and everything in between, the composers and performers on VOICES OF EARTH AND AIR VOL V deliver unique and impactful moments that are sure to strike a chord.

Souls In Transitions

Release Date: February 8, 2019
Catalog Number: NV6212
21st Century
Chamber
Cello
Piano
Violin
Beginning with just the spark to write three trios, composer Carl Vollrath created an intense yet reflective collection of works in SOULS IN TRANSITIONS. This Navona Records release moves through waves of contemplation on life, history, and the evolution of spirituality through the performances of violin, cello, and piano by acclaimed pianist Karolina Rojahn.

The Life Before Us

Release Date: April 13, 2018
Catalog Number: NV6153
21st Century
Chamber
Vocal Music
Piano
Voice
Bearing musical witness to the versatile talents of two acclaimed northern California-based composers, THE LIFE BEFORE US combines works from John G. Bilotta and Allan Crossman. Bilotta’s cycle of Yeats Songs, performed by baritone Andrew R. White, highlights five of the poet’s shorter lyrics in predominantly bi-tonal or atonal settings. His collection of Renaissance Songs is based on the work of several Elizabethan poets, including John Donne and Thomas Lodge (whose poem “Rosalynde” was the source of Shakespeare’s As You Like It). They’re brilliantly delivered by tenor Justin Marsh.

Tomorrow’s Air

Release Date: September 8, 2017
Catalog Number: NV6108
21st Century
Orchestral
Large Ensemble
Orchestra
Navona Records is proud to present TOMORROW’S AIR, a collection of contemporary music for large ensemble, written by composers in a variety of styles and genres. Listeners will recognize several names as PARMA regulars, including Daniel Perttu, Hans Bakker, and Paul Osterfield.

Triptych Revelation

Release Date: June 9, 2017
Catalog Number: NV6099
21st Century
Concertos
Orchestral
Electronic
Orchestra
Trumpet
TRIPTYCH REVELATION, composer Sergio Cervetti’s seventh album with Navona, presents works from across four decades of his extensive career. Though a fair bit of time separates these pieces, the album’s three works all feature unique explorations of apocalyptic themes, inspired by themes drawn from the New Testament, nineteenth century French literature, and Flemish art of the sixteenth century.

Forever Beeler

Release Date: March 10, 2017
Catalog Number: NV6085
21st Century
Chamber
Solo Instrumental
Clarinet
Oboe
Piano
FOREVER BEELER represents a sampling of composer Alan Beeler’s prolific output throughout his musical career, which is generally defined by his commitment to compositional craft and structural clarity. The works featured on this album also reveal a playfulness lying just under the surface of Beeler’s compositional perspective. This quality of Beeler’s music is most notable in the seven sonatas for piano, often accompanied by another instrument, included in FOREVER BEELER.

Spalding’s Bounce

Release Date: August 12, 2016
Catalog Number: NV6052
21st Century
Chamber
Electronic
Guitar
Piano Trio
Composer Ferdinando DeSena presents a selection of chamber works offering a mixture of musical elements. DeSena’s distinct musical style draws on all his diverse musical influences including jazz, popular, and classical avant garde. The popular and jazz fingerprints on his music are subtle, but can be found in his instrumentation and instrumental writing; on this album his combinations include the flute, guitar, sax and even harp and electronics to express unique sounds.

The Vocal Music Of Alan Beeler

Release Date: July 8, 2016
Catalog Number: NV6049
21st Century
Liturgical
Vocal Music
Choir
Voice
The music of Alan Beeler (1939-2016) is frequently a compact, tightly focused one, presenting sharp contrasts of color and mood in the context of clear, direct compositional structures. Although noticeably influenced by artistic movements in Europe and America during the first half of the 20th century, Beeler’s musical voice is an identifiable one – crisp, bold, and pointedly quirky.

Fred Broer

Release Date: June 10, 2016
Catalog Number: NV6042
21st Century
Chamber
Solo Instrumental
Piano
String Quartet
Composer, author, and educator Fred Broer presents his String Quartet No. 8, as well as four colorful piano works, on his Navona release FRED BROER: MUSIC FOR STRING QUARTET AND PIANO SOLO. Broer’s adventurous String Quartet No. 8 is performed masterfully by the New England String Quartet  and is dedicated to the memory of his good friend Hilda Ayer.

Three Pastels For Piano & Orchestra

Release Date: May 13, 2016
Catalog Number: NV6039
21st Century
Concertos
Orchestra
Piano
On his Navona Records release THREE PASTELS FOR PIANO & ORCHESTRA, composer Carl Vollrath presents his three piano concerti, written between 2012 and 2015. Representing some of his most recent work, these concerti are connected to each other thematically, and in a way portray a different hue of the same color.

In Times Of Torment

Release Date: April 8, 2016
Catalog Number: NV6035
21st Century
Chamber
Cello
String Quartet
Violin
IN TIMES OF TORMENT, from the late composer Yves Ramette (1921-2012), displays major themes from almost every single musical era. Composed from 1941-1944 in Paris during the Nazi occupation, the album presents a unique perspective from Ramette, breaking away from the virtuosic piano works found in his previous albums to showcase varying chamber ensembles. Although his sonatas were written for the virtuosic violin and cello, the piano continues to be highlighted throughout his pieces, making it more than an accompaniment, but rather a featured instrument.

Figments

Release Date: February 12, 2016
Catalog Number: NV6023
21st Century
Chamber
Cello
Piano
Violin
Navona Records presents FIGMENTS, a compilation of eclectic contemporary works for chamber ensemble that highlight the dramatic, the mysterious, and the inventive through diverse instrument combinations and use of extended techniques. The album features music by composers Mark Dal Porto, Richard Campanelli, David Nisbet Stewart, Paula Diehl, Jason R. Lovelace, and Mel Mobley.

Transits

Release Date: May 1, 2015
Catalog Number: NV6001
21st Century
Chamber
Clarinet
Flute
TRANSITS: Minimal to Mayhem, his fifth full Navona Records release, is an abridged sequence of five works from a set time and concrete place that maps composer Sergio Cervetti's creative progression over four decades of composing.

Voyage

Release Date: June 9, 2015
Catalog Number: NV6000
21st Century
Chamber
Jazz
Guitar
On his debut Navona Records release VOYAGE, composer Pierre Schroeder presents a captivating sonic journey that takes listeners on winding highways, through arid and spacious deserts, along the shores of crashing waves, into desolate and snow-covered lands, through episodes of adventures, mishaps, discoveries, and losses.

Elements Rising

Release Date: March 10, 2015
Catalog Number: NV5990
21st Century
Chamber
Large Ensemble
Piano
String Orchestra
Navona Records' latest offering of chamber music ELEMENTS RISING highlights contemporary composers who re-imagine the building blocks of music, such as melody, harmony, rhythm, dynamics, and timbre, in innovative ways, applying them to a number of duo and ensemble settings.

Felt

Release Date: February 10, 2015
Catalog Number: NV5987
21st Century
Solo Instrumental
Piano
FELT, a compilation for solo piano offered by Navona Records, presents an array of techniques and themes to illustrate the piano's dexterous capacity for limitless expression and tonal colors.

Soul Of The Machine

Release Date: August 1, 2014
Catalog Number: NV5965
21st Century
Chamber
Piano
String Quartet
As in a Philip K. Dick or Isaac Asimov novel, composer Sarah Wallin Huff's music on SOUL OF THE MACHINE, her debut solo release on Navona Records, explores the relationships between mechanical structures, organic beauty, and identity.

Cipher

Release Date: July 1, 2014
Catalog Number: NV5962
21st Century
Solo Instrumental
Piano
Oftentimes in our technology-driven global society, words can become obscured in meanings and associations depending on how they are interpreted or translated. On the other hand, music in its abstraction often can prompt more concrete interpretations. Composer Michael J. Evans explores the relationships between words, music, and meaning on his latest release on Navona Records, CIPHER.

Rational Passions

Release Date: July 1, 2014
Catalog Number: NV5960
21st Century
Chamber
Solo Instrumental
Piano
Piano Trio
String Quartet
RATIONAL PASSIONS, Greg Bowers' debut release on Navona Records, takes its listeners on a trip through the psychological world of music. Each piece explores the relationship between the notes played and the emotions experienced, suggesting that emotional meaning can be rationalized.

Unbridled

Release Date: June 1, 2014
Catalog Number: NV5958
21st Century
Chamber
Solo Instrumental
Large Ensemble
String Quartet
Violin
Wall Street. Salvador Dali. Gustav Mahler. Some of the sources of inspiration for composer Sergio Cervetti on his fourth solo Navona release, UNBRIDLED. Spanning over forty years of his career, the works represent Cervetti's continued aesthetic of combining traditional and postmodern techniques and instrumentation.

Tetrahedron Dreams

Release Date: April 1, 2014
Catalog Number: NV5947
21st Century
Solo Instrumental
Vocal Music
Choir
Piano
Drawing from a diverse set of genres and stylistic sources including atonal, folk, chant, dance, and more, Alexandra Ottaway's solo Navona Records debut TETRAHEDRON DREAMS presents a singular and striking listening experience.

Polarities

Release Date: March 1, 2014
Catalog Number: NV5944
21st Century
Chamber
Orchestral
Orchestra
Piano
POLARITIES, an album of new presentations in classical music, expresses the emotions, feelings, and scenes associated with opposites. The works on the album, by four composers, range from a piece for wind ensemble and the Chinese gaohu, to a piano sonata, a chamber work, and works for orchestra.

The PARMA Sessions: Karolina Rojahn

Release Date: August 1, 2013
Catalog Number: NV5925
21st Century
Chamber
Solo Instrumental
Orchestra
Piano
Piano Trio
THE PARMA SESSIONS: KAROLINA ROJAHN presents a series of recordings featuring longtime PARMA collaborator and pianist Karolina Rojahn. Showcasing the artist's skill, adaptability, and dedication, this digital compilation features Rojahn performing works by a diverse set of composers with myriad influences and styles.

Keyboard3

Release Date: January 1, 2013
Catalog Number: NV5900
21st Century
Solo Instrumental
Piano
KEYBOARD3 Navona's second all-Sergio Cervetti album takes the listener to a world of kinetic and emotionally charged sound forged from three keyboard instruments. Sometimes it is the pianoforte, the king of instruments or the double keyboard of the harpsichord.

The Music of Sparky Davis

Release Date: January 1, 2013
Catalog Number: NV5897
21st Century
Orchestral
Solo Instrumental
Orchestra
Piano
About 100 years ago, classical music made a jagged turn away from the harmonic structures that had comprised its underpinnings for several centuries. This departure was early-on dubbed atonalism, and opposed the functional harmony that prevailed during the great musical flourishing of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Composer Sparky Davis, who takes a "modern, not modernistic" approach to writing his music, continues this forward movement, expanding the vocabulary of music to include non-traditional elements and adding to the functional uses of long-established note combinations.

Convergence

Release Date: November 1, 2012
Catalog Number: NV5892
20th Century
Concertos
Orchestral
Orchestra
Piano
Wind Ensemble
Observing the landscape of contemporary classical, one might assume that the art music community has shifted its focus away from the melodic, harmonious, and accessible. CONVERGENCE, an album of works by David Nisbet Stewart and George Gershwin, presents just the opposite: imaginative, expressive works that appeal to performers and audiences alike.

Paper Clips

Release Date: August 1, 2012
Catalog Number: NV5879
21st Century
Chamber
Solo Instrumental
Trombone
For too long the trombone has been ignored as a central instrument in contemporary music. On PAPER CLIPS, trombonist Andy Malloy proves the instrument's capabilities of being a driving force and, along with pianist Karolina Rojahn, its collaborative appeal. An unabashed champion for the trombone, Malloy commissioned each work on this album specifically to expand the often overlooked instrument's repertoire.

Slices

Release Date: July 1, 2012
Catalog Number: NV5874
21st Century
Chamber
Solo Instrumental
Piano
Violin
Wind Ensemble
Who says eclecticism isn't a wonderful thing? Certainly not us at Navona Records. SLICES is a carefully handpicked selection of new chamber works by contemporary composers designed to showcase the diversity of modern music-making, and these pieces by Sundin, Bakker, Sainsbury, Rusnak, Beeler, and Burns cut right through the oft-repeated misconception that classical music is dead on the vine.

Summer Circle

Release Date: May 1, 2012
Catalog Number: NV5873
21st Century
Chamber
Solo Instrumental
Piano
Piano Trio
String Quartet
Swiss composer Martin Schlumpf is a man of many talents. From his early practice of jazz bass and classical cello to academic writings on composition to formal education on clarinet, piano, conducting, theory, and composition-not to mention the decades of experience as a perform across a variety of genre - Schlumpf proves that the jack of all trades can be the master, as well. With SUMMER CIRCLE, Schlumpf combines his myriad influences to craft expressive, complex chamber pieces that marry the sophisticated intricacies of jazz with the studied nuance of modern classical.

Fine Music, Vol. 2

Release Date: May 1, 2011
Catalog Number: NV5851
Orchestral
Solo Instrumental
Cello
Piano Trio
String Orchestra
FINE MUSIC, VOL. II is the second compilation of the Navona Records Fine Music digital series. This installment features the works of Marinescu, Barber, Evans, Elizondo, Zaimont, Nagorcka, Hofmeyr, Wilenski, Stölzel, Bakker and Sackman. This collection both highlights some of Navona's choicest tracks and offers a preview of things to come.

Eidola

Release Date: March 1, 2011
Catalog Number: NV5843
21st Century
Orchestral
Orchestra
EIDOLA is the latest Navona release from Washington, DC-based composer Michael J. Evans featuring four of his orchestral works. This release showcases Evans' wide range of compositional abilities; we hear calypso in the Concerto, woodwind night music in Nocturne with Sunrise, ballet and folk tunes in Dance and a musical interpretation of Poe's poetry in The Haunted Palace.

Tendrils

Release Date: August 1, 2010
Catalog Number: NV5833
21st Century
Chamber
Vocal Music
Piano Trio
The compositions of Byron Petty, Peter Homans, and Robert Stewart draw from a wide variety of influences, from Haydn to the Second Viennese School and Brahms to Stravinsky. Tendrils showcases the influences and skills of these three composers and highlights their ability to remain classical while utilizing modern concepts such as rotation, continuous development, and lyricism.

Explore other albums featuring Karolina Rojahn