William Michael Rooke (29 September 1794 – 14 October 1847) was an Irish violinist and composer.
Born William Michael O'Rourke in South Great George's Street, Dublin, he was the son of a local tradesman.
[1] In 1821, he moved to England and had his musical play The Pirate performed at the Drury Lane Theatre, London, in January 1822.
He performed in Birmingham in 1826 and in London, where he was chorusmaster at Drury Lane under Thomas Simpson Cooke (from 1826) led the orchestra at the Vauxhall Gardens concerts (1830–1833) under Henry Bishop.
Rooke's opera Henrique (1839), although favourably received, was withdrawn, possibly following arguments with William Macready, the manager, and his further works Cagliostro and The Valkyrie remained unperformed.