Roland Szentpali was born in 1977 in Nyíregyháza, Hungary. He began his musical studies in his hometown; in 1991 he was admitted to the Béla Bartók Conservatory in Budapest, as the tuba student of József Bazsinka and later of Gábor Adamik. At the age of 16 he won the national “Brasses and Percussion” competition, then wrote and performed his first concerto for tuba and symphony orchestra, recorded and broadcast by Hungarian state television. From here, his career as tubist and composer rapidly gained an international dimension. He entered the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy in Budapest where he studied with László Szabó, while taking private lessons with Roger Bobo. Since 1998 he has won first prize at seven international competitions: Gdansk, Poland; Munich, Germany; Budapest, Hungary; Chéju, Republic of Korea; Brno, Czech Republic; Lieksa, Finland and second prize at the competitions of Guebwiller, France and Markneukirchen, Germany.