Rolf Gjelsten November 1, 2024

Rolf started playing the accordion at age 10, became interested in the cello at age 13, and played the trumpet in the Victoria High School band in Grade 11.
“There was no orchestra (at Vic High),” Rolf recalled. “So I just practiced (my music) in a free period and played the trumpet in the band.” During his Vic High years, Rolf was a member of the Victoria Symphony Orchestra under conductor Laszlo Gati.
Rolf’s parents raised their three children, Eleanor, Freida, and Rolf in their Hollywood Crescent home across from the Ross Bay cemetery. It was so unique in its floral elegance that it became a stop on tourist bus routes.
The Gilsteins (Rolf changed the spelling to better reflect his family’s Norwegian heritage) were known for their folk dancing and were part of the establishment of the Norway House still standing on Hillside Avenue. Their dance group was also part of iconic Vic High teacher Tommy Mayne’s 1959 Song of Norway production. Eleanor was in Grade 10 at Vic High at the time.
Before beginning at age 15 to study the cello with James Hunter and Janos Starker of Victoria, Rolf had won two consecutive US northwest accordion championships. He graduated from the University of Victoria with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1976, a year before he became the youngest member of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. He had also been awarded the silver medal at the Canadian National Music Festival at 22.
Rolf earned his Masters degree in Cincinnati under Zara Nelsova and his Doctorate of Music from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey under the tutelage of Bernard Greenhouse. He also taught cello at Sarah Lawrence College in New York.
On May 10, 1994, Rolf joined the New Zealand String Quartet, about three months after his wife, Helene Pohl, joined the Wellington-based group as a violinist. He also joined the staff of the New Zealand School of Music as an assistant professor of cello and coordinator of Chamber Music. He and Helene remained as celebrated musicians with the Quartet for thirty years. He also performed in venues around the world, and his very valuable cello has a seat of its own on flights when he travels.
In 1977, Rolf became a New Zealand citizen and in 2014 he was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to music. He credits some of his musical grounding to two winters and many summers at the Banff School of Fine Arts where he was able to play with many fine artists.
But he fondly remembers his Victoria roots. “I loved my time at all my schools (Margaret Jenkins elementary, Central Junior, Victoria High and University of Victoria), especially at Vic High,” he said. “I had fantastic teachers and a group of great friends.” Credit King Lee