President: Royce Engstrom
Royce Engstrom recently retired from a 41-year career in higher education, serving as a chemistry professor for about half of that time and as an administrator for the other half. He served as President of the University of Montana for six years and was a member of several national-level organizations and boards. He has always been interested in music, playing the guitar and mandolin for fun, and now a little piano. His wife, Mary, is also a life-long educator. They have two children and two grandchildren. Royce feels extremely fortunate to be on the SOR Board.
Vice President: James Wiley
Jim moved to Missoula in 2016 to live closer to his daughter and grandchildren. Prior to 2016, Jim graduated from Stanford University and spent his 43-year career in business, Sales and Marketing and General Management. His career has taken him to Mexico, Central America, South America, Hong Kong and Bremen, Germany. When Jim is not spending time with his daughter and grandchildren, he enjoys playing golf, traveling, and classical music. He is active in the Episcopal Church in Missoula and throughout Montana and, In his spare time, volunteers at the Food Bank.
Executive Director: Tom Cook
Tom Cook is a Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of Montana where he was Director of Bands and Professor of Trumpet for fifteen years and Chair of the Department of Music for the following ten. After retirement, he served as interim Chair of the Department of Art and then assistant to the Dean in the School of Fine Arts. He and his wife, Janie, live in Missoula, where he is a part-time program host of Morning Classics on Montana Public Radio. Their two children reside in Missoula, along with their granddaughter. Tom is proud to have been selected for membership on the SOR Board.
Treasurer: Carol Garlington
Carol Garlington was born in Missoula and raised in its rich musical environment, playing violin in school and camp orchestras as well as in various chamber groups. After moving to Massachusetts, she turned her college major in music history and master’s in musicology into a stint as music editor at Harvard University Press before diverting her career into investment counsel for 23 years. She returned to Missoula in 2018, where she has taken up the violin once again and relishes the accessibility of both fine live musical performances and beautiful hiking trails.
Secretary: Donna Mendelson
Donna Mendelson worked in photographic collections in the Arizona State Museum and taught first and second grade before going back to school to study English and American literature. She is especially interested in literature and the environment—literary representations of our human relationships with the natural world—and taught at the State University of New York at Binghamton and the University of Montana. She listens to both classical and traditional music and served on the board of directors of the Tucson Friends of Traditional Music and Fiddle and Bow in Winston-Salem, NC.
Board Member: Kathy Mann Bartlett
Kathy is a retired educator who moved back to Missoula in 2011. She is an UM alum who is thrilled to live in such a vibrant community. She shares this excitement with her two daughters, sons-in-laws, and three grandchildren. Kathy stays active with SOR, MOLLI, a book club, women’s hiking group, Lady Griz basketball, the arts, and grandkids’ activities.
Board Member: Laura Haythornthwaite
Board Member: Deirdre Swanson
Deirdre was born in the Yukon Territory and spent her early childhood there. She considers herself a Montanan though, after living in Western Montana for at least half a century. Deirdre graduated from the University of Maryland, where she majored in English, and then later from the University of Montana Law School. She has worked as a high-school English teacher, a lawyer, and a consultant. She has been happily retired since 2002. She has admired SOR and attended their performances for almost 40 years.
Board Member: Beth Weatherby
Beth Weatherby moved to Missoula with her husband, Steve Kramer, after seven years in Dillon, where she served as Chancellor of the University of Montana Western. Her thirty years in higher education also included directing a creative writing program, teaching journalism and literature, and serving as Dean of Arts and Sciences and Provost at Southwest Minnesota State University. She loves to garden, hike, kayak, golf, paint, read, and listen to live music, especially the extraordinary String Orchestra of the Rockies concerts.
Board Member: Dudley Anderson
Dudley Anderson is a graduate of Colorado State University with a degree in Hearing and Speech Science. He owned Missoula Hearing Inc. for 38 years offering hearing and audiology services in five western Montana office sites. Dudley served on the Montana State Hearing Aid Licensing Board for 10 years, chairing the Board for 8 of those years. He also served on the exam committee for the National Board for Certification in Hearing Instrument Sciences. Dudley organized and led seven mission trips to other countries helping to develop, equip, and maintain hearing health care in clinics, schools, and hospitals as well as fitting hundreds of needy children and adults with hearing aids. His interests center around family, church, golf, and art. He is a studio artist at the Clay Studio of Missoula. Having attended SOR performances for years, it is an honor to be asked to serve on the SOR Board.
Board Member: Jo May Salonen
A lifelong classical music enthusiast, Jo May is thrilled to join the SOR board. A cellist since the age of nine, Jo May continues to play in small ensembles and at University Congregational Church. She is the former Executive Director of the Missoula Symphony Association, where she saw firsthand just how much the Missoula community supports the arts! After leading the MSA through a new Music Director search and the pandemic, she retired in 2022. Jo May has a background in marketing and PR and is a graduate of the University of Utah. She and her husband Brian have a daughter living in Boston, and a son residing in Flagstaff. When they aren’t traveling to spend time with their children, they enjoy taking their two dogs hiking and camping.
Board Orchestra Representative: Adam Collins
Adam Collins has taught cello at the University of Montana and played with the String Orchestra of the Rockies since 2018. He is also principal cellist of the Missoula Symphony Orchestra and the president of the Montana Association of Symphony Orchestras. Since joining the faculty of UM, Adam has performed and led masterclasses across the United States, South Korea, and Canada. His university students have won statewide and regional competitions and been accepted to prestigious summer programs such as Roundtop and Aspen. When Adam isn’t teaching or performing, you’re likely to find him baking sourdough or hiking and running on trails around Missoula.
Artistic Director: Maria Larionoff
SOR Artistic Director Maria Larionoff is a graduate of the Juilliard School and the former Concertmaster of the Seattle Symphony. She is currently on the faculty of the Seattle Conservatory and a member of the Vancouver BC-based Vetta Quartet. In her free time she enjoys playing tennis and spending time with golden retrievers.
Orchestra Leader: Margaret Baldridge
Website & Photography: Michael Wilder
Michael Wilder is a photographer, master color printer, artist, cyclist, and hay and horse farmer among other things. He has been photographing SOR concerts and creating the SOR website since 2005—because he appreciates the fine music and unique place of this orchestra.
Audio Recording: Scott Mathson
Scott Mathson owns and operates The Recording Center in Missoula. Scott is a multi-instrumentalist and has worked in and around audio and media since 2009 when he opened his first recording studio in his hometown of Great Falls. He spent the past decade working in marketing and media production roles and as a consultant for technology companies. In 2024, he purchased The Recording Center from Richard Kuschel, who had recorded all the SOR concerts since 1994.
Audio Recording: Richard Kuschel
Richard Kuschel owns and operates The Recording Center in Missoula. He has been making audio recordings of all the SOR concerts since 1994.