Roland E. Martin is a member of the music faculty at the  University at Buffalo (since 1986, as professor of organ and harpsichord) and Canisius College (since 2008). In June of last year he retired from the position of Director of Music at Buffalo Seminary where he conducted the chorus and orchestra, as well as teaching numerous courses. He serves as organist/choirmaster and Director of Music at St. Joseph University Church, Buffalo (since 1992). Prof. Martin served as Artistic Director of the Freudig Singers of Western New York from 1998 until 2022. In 1992 he founded Speculum Musicae, an ensemble for early music, which he also directed. He also served as conductor/music director for Opera Sacra for most of its productions, beginning in 1992 and  concluding in 2015 with Dialogues of the Carmelites, for its 40th anniversary.

An accomplished composer, Mr. Martin has more than 100 works in publication, with a number of commissions from universities, colleges, choral societies, churches and various other organizations and individuals. A member of ASCAP, he is the recipient of two Pennsylvania State Council of the Arts grants, two Meet the Composer grants, and two ALCOA Arts Endowment Awards for commissioned compositions. His Annunciation was a joint commission from Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and was premiered in 2000 under the direction of Robert DeCormier. The years 2009 and 2010 included five performances of his Such Glorious Gifts for chorus and orchestra, including one with the choirs of the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta with the Atlanta Opera orchestra. 2011 saw a performance of his song cycle for men’s chorus, Adamic Songs, with Canticum Novum (dir. Harold Rosenbaum) at Town Hall in NYC. His Prelude and Elegy was premiered in its orchestral version at Kleinhans Music Hall (Buffalo) by Buffalo Chamber Players in November 2019 under the direction of Matt Bassett. Martin’s compositions are continually being performed across the English-speaking world and beyond. Among his composition teachers were Robert Helps (1977-1980) and Aaron Copland (1979).

As conductor, Mr. Martin has worked primarily in the field of opera. In 1999 he conducted two American operatic premieres, and since then, has conducted many productions with Opera Sacra, ending with Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites in 2015. In 2010 his own stage works, Riders to the Sea, and Calvary premiered under his baton, as well as The Cat and the Moon in 2013 (Buffalo Chamber Players conducted by Matthew Bassett). Mr. Martin has served as interim conductor for the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus from January 2012 through July, and as guest conductor in the autumn of the following season.

As organist, Mr. Martin has given recitals throughout the United States, including the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and has performed in Canada, Spain, France, Germany, Austria, Italy and England, as well as annual concerts in Belgium. October 2000, he debuted as soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in a performance of the Rheinberger Organ Concerto No. 2. His organ teachers have included Hans Vigeland and John Hofmann. He received a Bachelor of Music (Mus. Ed./Organ, 1977) and Master of Music (Organ Performance, 1983) from SUNY @ Fredonia and a Doctor of Ministry (DMin, 2008) from the University of the South, Sewanee.

 Mr. Martin was the 2008 recipient of the Individual Artist Award from the Arts Council of Buffalo and Erie County, the first musician to receive that honor since JoAnn Falletta eight years earlier.