meet the artist Roland Balogh

Roland Balogh Biography

Roland Balogh was born in Budapest, Hungary. He began playing guitar at the age of 6, initially guided by his father and later by a private teacher. He took lessons from the famous Hungarian jazz guitarist Gyula Babos. In 2007, he received his high-level diploma as a jazz guitarist. In 2009 Roland won the 1st prize at the “Montreux Jazz Guitar Competition,” whose jury was chaired by Lee Ritenour. In 2010 in Völklingen, Germany, he won the 1st prize again at the International Competition “Voice and Guitar”. In the same year in March, he received the scholarship “Dezső Ablakos Lakatos” and in November he was awarded the Junior Prima Prize, one of the most prestigious awards in Hungary. In 2012, he won 1st place again at Jazzy Radio’s songwriting competition with his band “Finucci Bros Quartet”. In 2015 Roland won the 2nd prize at the Wes Montgomery Jazz Guitar Competition in New York, the chair of the Jury was Pat Martino. Roland’s latest success in his career was achieved in 2016 by winning 1st place as the grand prize winner at the Six String Theory Jazz Guitar competition in Los Angeles. The members of the jury were among the greatest jazz guitarists of the world such as Pat Martino, John Scofield, Mike Stern, Lee Ritenour, and Nir Felder.
Roland has performed with many of the jazz elite like Matthew Garrison, Melvin Lee Davis, and Lee Ritenour. Roland has also played at the Montreux Jazz Festival before the Paco de Lucia Band, and in the Blue Note Tokyo with Lee Ritenour, as well as several other famous Jazz Clubs and Festivals.

Country: Hungary