Roland Maria Stangier has been Professor of Organ and Improvisation at Folkwang University in Essen since 1994. Since 2003 he has been the curator of the Kuhn organ in the Essen Philarmonie and has also been the organ curator at the Philharmonie Mercatorhalle in Duisburg. Since 2010 he is also titular organist at the Kreuzeskirche in Essen.


After studying in Würzburg and Paris with Zsolt Gárdonyi and Daniel Roth among others, Roland Maria Stangier received a bursary from the Air bridge memorial bursary (Bourse du memorial du pont aérien) from the Berlin Allies, the first organist to receive such an award, studying in Paris and Strasbourg with Daniel Roth and André Fleury. After his studies, he became cantor and organist in Schopfheim, Berlin and Solothurn (Switzerland), director of sacred music at the Church of St. Peter in Hamburg and led the Hamburg Bach Choir; after this he taught at the conservatory in Bremen and at the Erzbischöfliche Kirchenmusikschule Berlin (Archiepiscopal School for Sacred Music Berlin).


Roland Maria Stanier was awarded three times in competitions and initiated the Maurice Duruflé International Improvisation Competition in Hamburg. He has given concerts all across the world and has recorded numerous CDs as a conductor and organist.


http://www.rmstangier.de/