Rolf Gjelsten

Rolf Gjelsten grew up in Victoria, Canada, in a Norwegian family of folk dancers. In his teens, he became an accomplished accordionist before focussing on cello studies with James Hunter and Janos Starker. In 1975, he was awarded the silver medal in the Canadian National Music Festival. At 22 he joined the Berlin Symphony Orchestra in Germany. Rolf then furthered his cello studies with Zara Nelsova and chamber music with such eminent groups as the LaSalle, Hungarian, Vermeer, Cleveland and Emerson string quartets. He was a regular participant in both the Banff School of Fine Arts and the Aspen Music Festival. His Vermilion String Quartet won Ensemble of the Year from Downbeat Magazine while studying with the Vermeer Quartet. 

As a member of the Laurentian Quartet for almost a decade he toured internationally as well as teaching cello at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. During this time he was also a member of the New York Piano Trio, as well as playing regularly with organ legend Anthony Newman and the Collegium Musicum of New York. He was invited to the Bach Aria Festival in New York and the Prussia Cove International Musicians' Seminar a number of times. In 1990 he continued studies with the great Casals protégé Bernard Greenhouse at Rutgers University from where he received his doctoral degree. He has given masterclasses all over the world, including at Peabody Conservatory, Rice University, Banff School of Fine Arts, and Stuttgart Hochschule für Musik. 

Rolf has performed with such eminent artists as Menahem Pressler, Anton Kuerti, Piers Lane, Kathryn Stott, Franco Gulli, Zoltan Szekely, Nobuko Imai, Frans Helmerson, Colin Carr, James Campbell, Gervaise de Peyer, and members of the Hungarian, Tokyo, Vermeer, Prazak. Takacs and Jerusalem String Quartets. He has enjoyed playing with the New Zealand String Quartet from 1994 to 2024, touring at home and abroad, making recordings, teaching at NZSM and giving masterclasses. In 2015, Rolf premiered and recorded Gareth Farr’s “Dear Horizon” cello concerto with the RNZB and the NZ Army Band. He became a New Zealand citizen in 1997 and was made a member of the NZ Order of Merit for services to music in 2014.