Roland Trogan

Roland Trogan (August 6, 1933 – May 1, 2012) was an American composer, teacher and author. Biography Born in Saginaw, Michigan, Trogan was a musical prodigy. He performed classical piano music as a teenager on WKNX Radio in Saginaw from 1947 to 1950, before beginning formal training in composition at the University of Michigan. There he studied with Ross Lee Finney, Luigi Dallapiccola and Leslie Bassett and received his B.Mus. in 1954, M.Mus. in 1955, and D.M.A. in 1963. His compositional work during this time was recognized by awards from BMI and the Louisville Symphony, which performed Trogan’s Two Scenes for Orchestra in 1955. A Fulbright Scholarship for study in Rome was rescinded by the House Committee on Un-American Activities because Trogan had signed a petition supporting the prominent socialist, Norman Thomas. In addition to graduate fellowships in music theory and English, Trogan was engaged as Associate Conductor and Composer-in-Residence by the Saginaw Civic Symphony, under the Russian-American conductor Joseph Cherniavsky. Trogan came to Cherniavsky’s attention after learning of Trogan’s prize winning one-act opera, The Hat Man (1954), which was widely performed. While