Education News and Events

7th March 2008

Roland Corporation Founder Receives Honorary Professorship

Ikutaro Kakehashi, founder of the Roland Corporation, is to be honoured in recognition of his legendary contribution to both the music industry and music education. During his forthcoming visit to the UK, Mr Kakehashi will receive an Honorary Professorship from the University of Glamorgan at a special ceremony held in Cardiff on 4th April. The ceremony includes Mr Kakehashi's inaugural lecture to an invited VIP audience and coincides with the official opening of the Roland Music Academy at the university's new multi-million pound ATRiuM facility.

Born in Osaka, Japan, in 1930, Ikutaro Kakehashi's story is remarkable. Orphaned at the age of 2 and nearly losing his own life to tuberculosis at 20, Kakehashi began his working life repairing watches and building radios before discovering his love of music and his true vocation in 1958.

"It was 1958. I was 28 years old, and I decided I would find a way to make electronic musical instruments my life's work." Ikutaro Kakehashi - I Believe in Music (2002).

This led to the development of products for the music industry, including organs, which Kakehashi sold through his own company before linking up with Hammond to form Hammond Japan. In 1972 Kakehashi founded the Roland Corporation. By this time, his impact on the music industry was already significant, but his most important contribution came in 1982 as he initiated discussions between electronic musical instrument manufacturers with a view to creating a standard method of communication. This resulted in the MIDI specification. Over the following decades, with Kakehashi at the helm, the Roland Corporation continued to flourish. Advances in research and development made it a market leader in the production of synthesizers, organs, pianos, electronic drums, samplers, music workstations, amplifiers, and guitar effects. The last 10 years saw further business expansion with the addition of video and visual performance products to the Roland Corporation portfolio.

At the same time, Roland's international profile developed with the establishment of its joint venture companies worldwide and its additional investment in companies such as Boss, Rodgers, Edirol, Cakewalk, RSS and Roland DG, who are all part of the Roland family.

"Mr Kakehashi's impact on the music industry has been colossal," says John Booth, Managing Director of Roland UK. "In addition to being the driving force in the design of cutting-edge music technology, he has also been influential in shaping the sound and style of music itself.
His achievements will influence generations of musicians for years to come. The award of an Honorary Professorship recognises his amazing contribution to the music industry and education."

Professor David Halton, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glamorgan commented, "It is with great pleasure that we honour Mr Kakehashi with an Honorary Professorship of the University of Glamorgan. ATRiuM will be home to the first university-based Roland Music Academy in the UK and we are delighted that Mr Kakehashi will visit the faculty in person to mark the launch of this forward-looking project."

7th January - Roland UK, EDIROL Europe and Music Sales announce new strategic partnership

… inspiring innovation and excellence in music education

Three leading European music industry companies recently announced a new strategic partnership which is set to offer the UK music education market an innovative approach to working with technology.

Roland UK, EDIROL Europe and Music Sales are collaborating in an initiative that establishes the group as one of the largest providers of integrated music technology solutions for schools and colleges in the UK. Each company brings a range of complementary products to the partnership. Roland’s portfolio includes keyboards, digital pianos, percussion and digital recorders, alongside Boss pedals and the new RSS Digital Snake and V-Mixing systems. EDIROL Europe offers computer-based music and audio recording products, innovative video editing solutions and Cakewalk music software, including the recently launched academic editions of SONAR. Europe’s largest printed music publisher, Music Sales, offers a complete range of sheet music, books, DVDs and instrumental tutors. As the exclusive UK distributor of MakeMusic’s Finale® software, the company also adds an entire family of notation programs to the partnership portfolio, catering for a wide range of scoring needs at different levels of education.

The partnership draws on an experienced staff team who are both education specialists and industry professionals. An extensive product portfolio will be supported by resource materials, professional development sessions and product training, giving teachers an opportunity to discuss and explore the applications of products within specific areas of the curriculum.

Education conferences and other high profile UK events will be supported during 2008, enabling teachers to meet partnership staff and discuss their product and training needs. The partnership members have already collaborated in supporting the recent launch of the first Roland Music Academies, whose teaching resources include a comprehensive range of partnership hardware and software products.

 

Events 2008/09

As part of the Roland-Edirol-Music Sales partnership, Edirol will be supporting the following education events during 2008/09:

Music Masters and Mistresses Association Annual Conference - Sherbourne School, Dorset.	9th-11th May
London International Music Show Education Day - ExCel. London.	13th June
Federation of Music Services Annual Conference - Leeds	19th-21st June
Roland Musical Futures Conference Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank	30th June
National Association of Music Educators Annual Conference - ICC – Birmingham	10th -11th October
BETT Show 2009 - Olympia, London	14th-17th January