Marin Gjollma

From 2001 to 2012, he completed all cycles of higher education at the Karlsruhe University of Music (Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe), Germany, in the class of pianist and pedagogue Prof. Dr. h.c. Fany Solter. He graduated with excellent results from the DKA program (Diploma of Artistic Formation), obtaining the academic degree of Musician in Chamber Music, and subsequently earned a Master of Music. During the academic year 2010–2011, he was the only piano student selected through a two-stage competitive examination process to continue his studies in the third-cycle degree Solistenexamen / Konzertexamen.

In December 2014, after hearing Marin Gjollma’s interpretations of works by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, Chopin, and Debussy in Vienna, the pianist and musicologist Prof. Dr. h.c. Paul Badura-Skoda wrote:“The Albanian pianist Marin Gjollma made a deep impression on me through his artistic performance and technical perfection. It is truly gratifying that Albania has a pianist of such a high level.” As a result of this evaluation, he was invited to perform a recital within the Mahagoni Zyklus concert series in Vienna in December 2015, held at the Baroque Salvator Hall.

Further recital performances took place in Wertheim, Germany, in 2017 and were reviewed in regional German newspapers, including Main-Echo and Fränkische Nachrichten.

Since 1996, Marin Gjollma has been active as a performer, appearing as a soloist and chamber musician in Albania, Germany, Austria, Kosovo, Greece, and North Macedonia. He has participated in festivals such as Klassik, Pianodrom, Different Trains Music Festival, and German October in Tirana; the International Chamber Music Festival in Durrës; the Mahagoni Zyklus concert series in Vienna; the Ohrid Summer Festival in North Macedonia; and the Papaioanou Festival in Kavala, Greece.

He has performed as a soloist with the Baden-Baden Philharmonic Orchestra in Germany and has ongoing collaborations with the Albanian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra of the University of Arts. Recent performances in 2025 include a recital dedicated to Frédéric Chopin (March), Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Symphony Orchestra of the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet (May), and Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Albanian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra (September). He has collaborated with conductors Mateusz Moleda and Sergio Alapont.

From 2004 to 2008 and during 2010, Marin Gjollma worked as an assistant to Prof. Dr. h.c. Fany Solter at the Karlsruhe University of Music. He has given masterclasses in Tirana and Korçë (Albania), Wertheim (Germany), and Vigo (Spain). He currently serves as Professor of Piano and Head of the Piano Department at the Faculty of Music, University of Arts, Tirana.