Thomas Rolston (born October 31, 1932 in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

- died May 29, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia) was a Canadian violinist and conductor. After early studies with Douglas Stewart, Roman Totenberg and David Martin, Rolston was a member of the

Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Richard Strauss, W ...

(1951–1958). He was

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...

and (1958–1960) and Associate Conductor (1960–1964) of the

Edmonton Symphony Orchestra The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Edmonton, Alberta. As the professional orchestra of Alberta's creative capital city it presents over 85 concerts a year of symphonic music in all genres, from classical to co ...

. He taught at the University of Alberta in Edmonton until 1979, when he became the first director of music at the

Banff Centre for the Arts Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

and where he was head of the string department as well as both the Centre's music co-ordinator and music director, overseeing the Centre's summer programs until his retirement in 2004. He created the Canadian Chamber Orchestra, introduced the Suzuki method of violin instruction to Canada, and founded the Society for Talent Education in 1964. Between 1988 and 1991, he taught at the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

.Calgary Herald, June 4, 2010 - Banff Centre Mainstay Rolston Dies
Calgary Herald website, retrieved 2010-06-04.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rolston, Tom 1932 births 2010 deaths Male conductors (music) Canadian classical violinists Male classical violinists Musicians from Vancouver 20th-century classical violinists 20th-century Canadian conductors (music) 20th-century Canadian male musicians 20th-century Canadian violinists and fiddlers Canadian male violinists and fiddlers