Artistic Director

Timm Rolek

Maestro Rolek is currently planning for his 8th season as Artistic Director and Conductor of the prestigious Lake Tahoe Music Festival.

From 1995 to 2005 Maestro Rolek was the Music Director of the Grand Forks Symphony (ND), where he will return in 2009 for a program celebrating their 100th anniversary. He is currently in his 11th season as Artistic Director of the Sacramento Opera (CA). All of these organizations have expanded their seasons under his leadership. Formerly he was Music Director of the Heartland Symphony (1993-1998) and a member of the conducting staff at the Metropolitan Opera. He is a busy guest conductor on both the concert and operatic stages, having led performances with Nevada Opera, Fargo-Moorhead Opera, Skylight Opera Theatre, Chatauqua Opera, Opera Delaware, the Reno Philharmonic, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Minneapolis Civic and Glacier Symphonies, as well as the Ravinia Festival.

Maestro Rolek’s repertoire ranges from Johann Strauss to Puccini, Sondheim to Musgrave. He has recorded Jerre Tanner’s The Kona Coffee Cantata with the Prague Chamber Orchestra, and Joseph Fennimore’s Eventide (both on the Albany/Troy label). He conducted the American premiere of Ernst Krenek’s Das Geheime Koenigreich and has participated in the Pierre Boulez / IRCAM composers and conductors workshop at Carnegie Hall. Twin Cities Public Television KTCA-2 has featured Maestro Rolek on their two-time Emmy Award-winning program “Arts on 2,” and, in conjunction with Northern Lights Public Radio, he produced a nine-part radio program called “Music In Our Century.” He also served on a Lila Wallace / Reader’s Digest grant panel and Singer Workshop panel for Opera America. He has been a frequent judge for competitions including the National Council Auditions for the Metropolitan Opera.

Under his tenure, the Grand Forks Symphony secured awards from “Meet The Composer” and “Chamber Music America.” Since taking over Sacramento Opera, audiences have risen sharply, and the company has increased its number of main stage and outreach productions.

After studying composition at the University of Minnesota, Maestro Rolek studied conducting with Herbert Blomstedt, Sir Neville Marriner, Klaus Tennstedt, and James Levine.