Biography

Roman Patkoló was born in Žilina in Slovakia in 1982 and comes from a musical family. He received his first double bass lessons at the age of 13 with Jan Krigovsky. In 1997 he began studying at the University of Music and the Performing Arts in Munich with Klaus Trumpf and he completed his masterclass diploma in 2005. From 1999 to 2011 he held a scholarship from the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation. In 1999 he won the International Society of Bassists Competition in Iowa City and the International Sperger Competition in Woldzegarten in 2000. His other prizes include the European Cultural Prize in Berlin, the 2002 European Quartet Prize with Bassiona Amorosa in Lucerne, the City of Toronto International Glenn Gould Protégé Prize, following the recommendation of André Previn, and the Aida Stucki Prize in New York in 2011. Roman Patkoló held a professorship at the University of Music and the Performing Arts in Munich and since 2009 had been professor of double bass at the Music Academy in Basel. Other awards include DAAD Prize in Munich, Furstenberg Classics Prize in Donaueschingen, and L. Rajter Prize in Pressburg.

Roman Patkoló performs as a soloist and with Anne-Sophie Mutter in Europe, Asia, the USA and Canada, appearing with orchestras such as the German Symphony Orchestra Berlin, the Camerata Moscow, the Virtuosi di Kuhmo, the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington), the SWR Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Czech Philharmonic. He has been a guest at festivals such as the Lucerne Festival, the Rheingau Music Festival, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, the Verbier Festival and the Yehudi Menuhin Festival Gstaad, as well as at Carnegie Hall and the Musikverein in Vienna. He has also appeared on television, including on Stars of Tomorrow (ARTE) and Sunday Night Classics (ZDF) with Maxim Vengerov. 

With Anne-Sophie Mutter, Roman Patkoló has performed in several world premieres, including André Previn’s Double Concerto for violin and double bass, Krzysztof Penderecki’s Duo concertante for violin and double bass and Wolfgang Rihm’s Dyade in 2011, as well as Sebastian Currier’s Ringtone Variations in 2013.