Beloved musician, director of the Western Slope Concert Series and founder and cellist in the popular Celtic band FEAST, Tyme Mientka, passed away on March 31, 2012, from cancer.
Tyme was born on Oct. 23, 1956 in Reno, Nevada to Walter and Gretel Mientka, and spent his childhood in Lincoln, Nebraska with his siblings Andy, Becky, and Ben. He loved football and the cello, and during his high school years loved playing electric bass in his rock band, “Rambunctious”.
He attended Northwestern University starting in 1975, having already fallen in love with his future wife, Kathryn (Catie) Olson, from her photo. He found her the first week of college and immediately asked her out, but she stubbornly refused to fall in love with him until their senior year. After graduating in 1979 with a degree in cello, he attended the University of Southern California where he received his master’s degree in cello and also married Catie in 1981. The couple moved to Bozeman, Montana where they both taught music and conducted the chamber orchestra at Montana State University.
Yearning to perform in Europe, two years later they had a garage sale and sold
all their belongings, including the grand piano, and moved to Germany with nothing
but a few dollars to carve out a musical career. Within months Tyme was directing
and performing with his wife in a concert series at a castle in Fulda, Germany.
The Mientka Duo soon attracted the notice of royalty, including the Prince and Princess
of Hannover, and began playing many concerts throughout Germany, as well as some
concerts in Switzerland, France, and Italy. In 1986, their first child Gabriel was
born, followed a few years later by daughter Stephanie.
In 1990, the couple decided to move back to the US to raise their children.
The Mientka Duo continued to tour in Germany and France, and their last child, Rosemarie,
was born in the Minnesota in 1992. In 1994 the couple was invited to perform at
the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Parts of the concert were later
featured numerous times nationally on NBC’s “Performance Today.” An hour-
Gabe had left for Germany to further his cello studies at the University of Frankfurt, and Stephanie was now pursuing a degree in viola at the University of Colorado in Boulder on a full merit scholarship. After graduating she received a full scholarship to Rice University in Texas, which houses one of the top ten music schools in the US. Rosie soon left for Seattle to apprentice with the ARC Dance ballet company, and later with the Nashville Ballet. Tyme was immensely proud of his three children and loved them deeply. He was a devoted father who spent many hours with his children, not only teaching them but camping, swimming, and general goofing around.
In addition to touring in Europe, Tyme began repairing stringed instruments
as a side-
He was absolutely devoted to his wife, with whom he shared every musical endeavor. His musical connection with Catie was on a deep intuitive level, and reflected their immense love for one another. As a performer he truly played “from the heart” and always gave his total love and artistic ability to the audience. The beauty of his cello tone was unique and unmatched. At age 55, his musical talent was in its greatest flowering, and he leaves behind a deeply grieved family as well as innumerable adoring fans and students on two continents.
In 2002 Tyme conducted four performances of The Nutcracker in collaboration
with dance director Barry Trammell. Meanwhile, Tyme was assisting in home-
In 2003, the family decided to move back to Grand Junction so the kids could
get more involved in the artistic activities there. Gabe began attending Mesa State
College, with his father as his cello professor, and was soon playing in the Grand
Junction Symphony. A few years later Gabe won the symphony competition, making his
father/teacher extremely proud. Daughter Stephanie began performing with the symphony
as well, and Tyme was delighted to be playing in the orchestra with both his musician
children. Meanwhile, Rosie was developing as a ballerina, and performed with the
Oregon Ballet and the Grand Junction Symphony in The Nutcracker, with father and
siblings in the orchestra. A few years later, Tyme collaborated with the Institute
of Dancing Arts in yet another Nutcracker. Tyme gathered a fantastic orchestra together
of music students from Boulder as well as top local professionals, and conducted
while daughter Rosie danced the starring role of the Sugar Plum Fairy, another very
proud moment in this loving father’s life. 
In 2005, Tyme and Catie decided to “cross over” into another music genre and
started the Celtic band FEAST. The success of this band was a delightful shock to
Tyme, and FEAST performed regularly in Colorado and garnered many fans. Tyme took
great pleasure in playing in an amplified band setting, and working with his band
partners, incredible drummer and co-
In 2009 Tyme and Catie decided to put together a Celtic show with music and dance, and the subsequent show “Celtica Sinfonia” sold out the Avalon Theatre, Montrose Pavilion, and Vilar Performing Arts Center in Beaver Creek. The show was filmed by Rocky Mountain PBS, headed by Greg Mikolai, and aired in 2010. The show featured the full band FEAST, including daughter Stephanie and son Gabe, and Celtic dancers as well as ballet dancers. Daughter Rosie danced a beautiful duet to “Greensleeves” and this marked the first (and only) show that the entire Mientka family performed in. In 2010, the couple produced another show, “Celtica Sinfonia II”, again selling out, and in 2011 “Celtic Fire”, which later toured New Mexico and southern Colorado.