The Musical Staff

Dr. Roger Satrang Hoel,
Music Director and Conductor

Dr. Roger Satrang Hoel, Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Apollo Male Chorus, is also the Music Director, Principal Conductor, and founder of the Music Association of Minnetonka (formerly the Minnetonka Orchestral Association.)

Established in 1974, the Music Association of Minnetonka is comprised of the Minnetonka Symphony Orchestra, the Minnetonka Chamber Orchestra, The Minnetonka Civic Orchestra, the Minnetonka Youth Orchestras, the Minnetonka Symphony Chorus, the Minnetonka Chamber Singers, the Minnetonka Senior Chorale, The Minnetonka Madrigals, and three youth choirs, the Minnetonka Chamber Choir, the Minnetonka Concert Choir and the Minnetonka Cappella Choir.

Under his direction, many of Hoel's ensembles have performed at international invitationals in England, Wales, Denmark, Italy, France, Austria, Greece, Canada, and Scandinavia; at the Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York; and in the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Germany.

Hoel also founded the Annual Minnetonka Children's Choral Festival, which draws from the choral excellence in the Twin Cities, greater Minnesota, and the midwest; the Annual Minnetonka Senior Choral Festival for musicians age 65 and older; the Annual Minnetonka Young Artist Competition, which provides talented young musicians the opportunity to perform with the Minnetonka Symphony Orchestra; the Annual Minnetonka Christmas Festival; the Annual Minnetonka Community Messiah Sing-Along, which encourages audience participation as a means to develop the community's involvement with such music; and the Annual Minnetonka Young People's Concerts, which use an interactive format to bring Classical music to young children.

Hoel studied choral conducting with Dr. Olaf C. Christiansen and Dr. Kenneth Jennings of the St. Olaf Choir, and with Dr. Paul Ensrude and Dr. Gerhard Track of the Vienna Boy Choir as well as with Robert Shaw. He studied orchestral conducting with Leopold Sipe of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, George Trautwine of the Minnesota Orchestra, David Zinmann of the Buffalo Symphony Orchestra, and Antal Dorati of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. In addition, Hoel studied band conducting with Dr. Frank Bencriscutto of the University of Minnesota, Miles Johnson of St. Olaf College, and Dr. Frederick Fennell of the Eastman School of Music.

Additional orchestral studies were with Bernard Adelstein of the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, Stephen Chenette of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Leonardo Resansky of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and Christopher Luba of the Chicago Symphony.

Hoel played with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, the New York Brass Quintet, and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Additionally, he has been a soloist, as well as a conductor, for a number of civic and professional symphony orchestras.

Hoel is a regular guest conductor at choral festivals and clinics, and is listed in the International Dictionary of Biographies, International Who's Who in Music, Who's Who in the Midwest, Who's Who in America, Who's Who in Society, Who's Who in the World, Personalities of America, and Men of Achievements.