Patricia Rolston

Rolston, Patricia

Patricia Rolston. Pianist, choral conductor, teacher, b Vancouver 28 Nov 1929; LRSM (1948), ARCT (1949), BA (McMaster) 1963, MA (State U of New York) 1970. Patricia Rolston studied piano privately with Pearl Kerr in Vancouver, winning the Eaton Scholarship in 1949. She went on to study at the Music Academy of the West in California in 1949, Mannes Music School in New York 1951, and Stephen Mannes in New York 1968-70. Her recital debut was at Wigmore Hall, London, in 1958. She performed for CBC and WNYC (New York) radio and appeared as soloist with the Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Vancouver and Victoria symphony orchestras, the Hamilton Philharmonic, the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra (England), the Long Island Symphony Orchestra (Huntington, NY), and Symphony Hamilton, and she toured with the Schwerin Symphony Orchestra in Germany. Rolston was founding chairman 1977-89 of the music department at Mohawk College, Hamilton, Ont, and was founding conductor 1970-89 of the Mohawk College Singers, a 100-voice college community choir that appeared regularly with the McMaster Symphony Orchestra. She received an award from the Dante Alighiere Society of Hamilton in 1984 and was named Hamilton's woman of the year in 1986. In 1990 she became music director of the Richmond Music School in BC, where she continues to teach. She collaborated with Patricia Hodgins on a touring show and 1995 CD, Love's Old Sweet Songs. Rolston is a member of the BC Registered Music Teachers Association.

Patricia Rolston was married to the conductor Lee Hepner; their son is the jazz saxophonist Darcy Hepner.