Our Team

Executive/Artistic Director

Executive/Artistic Director Michael Reynolds co-founded Classics for Kids Foundation in 1997. To learn more about his teaching, go to his website: michaelreynoldscello.com

Board of Directors

Dr. Condoleezza Rice is a professor of Political Economy in the Graduate School of Business, the Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution, and a professor of Political Science at Stanford University. From January 2005-2009, Dr. Rice served as the 66th Secretary of State of the United States. As Secretary of State, she focused on engaging America's many partners around the world to build and sustain democratic, well-governed states that will respond to the needs of their people. She worked with the men and women of the Department of State to advance transformational diplomacy, an effort to implement new diplomatic foundations aimed at securing a future of freedom for all people. Prior to serving as America’s chief diplomat, Dr. Rice served as President George W. Bush's Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (National Security Advisor) from January 2001-2005. For Dr. Rice, music lessons began at the age of 3. In a 2006 New York Times article, Rice stated, "I don’t remember learning to read music--you know, the lines and spaces and all that [...] From my point of view I could always read music." At 15, she performed Mozart's Piano Concerto in D minor with the Denver Symphony Orchestra, her prize for winning a student competition. At the same time, she entered the University of Denver as a music major though she soon switched to political science. In 1993, while provost at Stanford University, she turned her attention again to the piano and started lessons with faculty member, George Barth. Musical highlights include a 2002 performance with Yo-Yo Ma at Constitution Hall, a 2008 recital for the Queen of England at Buckingham Palace, and a 2010 fundraiser with Aretha Franklin in Philadelphia’s Mann Music Centre.

Barry Kingston has been a Wealth Advisor with Morgan Stanley and its predecessor firms since 1984. In addition to providing advice to families and corporations on wealth planning, succession, and estate issues, he specializes in the area of retirement plans and planning. He served as founding Branch Manager of the Westborough, MA office from 1999 - 2008, opening a new territory for the firm. Barry has been married to his wife Deborah since 1983 and they have two children, Nathaniel and Emily. He received his Bachelor's degree from the University of Vermont and a Master's from Florida International University. He loves traveling, fly fishing, and studying the markets.

Jill Lenhardt was raised in Bozeman, Montana and played several instruments in the public schools there. She attended Macalester College and went on to a career in finance and investment, including positions at Merrill Lynch in Chicago and Bariston Partners in Boston. From 1998-2001 she was Founding Executive Director for New England SCORES - an after-school program that serves inner-city youth through an innovative program combining soccer, creative writing and service learning. She served on the New England SCORES Board of Directors from 2001-2005. She has also been actively involved with Macalester for many years as an Alumni Chapter Leader, President of the Alumni Board and currently as a member of the Campaign Steering Committee for Macalester’s Step Forward Campaign.

Iris Model was born in Berlin, Germany and was educated in Berlin, London and Paris. In 1964 she came to the USA on vacation, and fell in love with New York City which consequently became her home. Her career started with Rudi Gernreich, the world-renowned American fashion designer and innovator whose NY showroom she co-managed for a few years. In 1968 she became part of a small founding team launching Clinique Lab. Inc., the enormously successful international skin care and makeup company. After 28 years, she retired as Senior Vice President of Strategic Development. During her professional career she served on the board of several industry organizations. Her many interests include the arts, environmental conservation and learning about different cultures. To this end she has traveled all over the world and has been in almost all of the 50 states in the Union. In 2001 she created Indian Uprising Gallery located in Bozeman, MT, showcasing American Indian art of the Plains region and providing an appropriate setting to help known and unknown contemporary Native artists to receive wider public recognition. She is presently serving on the Board of Trustees of the Museum of the Rockies where she is also on the Executive Committee.

Dr. Angus Muir is a practicing oncologist living in Fredericksburg, Virginia. On the Board (now emeritus) of the Fredericksburg Festival of the Arts since its inception, he is an active supporter of the arts in northern Virginia. A graduate of George Washington University, Case Western University, and the University of Rochester, he has been practicing medicine since 1966. He was the Director of Human Genetics at Case Western Reserve University from 1973-1984. He is a member of numerous scientific and honorary societies, including the American Societies of Hematology and Human Genetics. He is also founding member of the Board of Directors for the Ohio Scottish Games, and breeds Highland cattle at his home in Virginia. He is presently in private practice of oncology in Fredericksburg.

Advisory Board

Paul Brest is the president of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation in Menlo Park, California, and serves as the director of its Philanthropy Program. Mr. Brest received an A.B. from Swarthmore College in 1962 and an LL.B from Harvard Law School in 1965. He served as law clerk to Judge Bailey Aldrich and Supreme Court Justice John M. Harlan, and practiced with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., in Jackson, Mississippi, doing civil rights litigation before joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 1969, where his research and teaching focused on constitutional law and problem solving/decision making. From 1987 to 1999, he served as the dean of Stanford Law School. Mr. Brest is co-author of Processes of Constitutional Decisionmaking (5th ed. 2007), and of Problem Solving, Decision Making, and Professional Judgment (Oxford University Press, 2010). Together with Hal Harvey he is co-author of Money Well Spent: A Strategic Plan for Smart Philanthropy (Bloomberg Press, 2008). He teaches a course on Judgment and Decisionmaking in the Public Policy Program at Stanford. Mr. Brest holds honorary degrees from Northeastern Law School and Swarthmore College, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Roger Kirk, co-founder of CFKF, is Manager of several hydroelectric projects, including: Shasta Hydroelectric projects: Isabella Hydroelectric, South Dry Creek and Strawberry Creek. He is also President of the Diamond T Bar Ranch Corporation and Sherwood Developers, LLC. Roger is Past Director of the Montana Chamber Music Festival. Roger is also on the Board of Directors of HeadRoom Corporation, which creates and manufactures high-end audiophile equipment.

Ruth Mitchell was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina and attended Converse College, where she received a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance and subsequently became a faculty member of the Converse School of Music. Ms. Mitchell was appointed the Director of Alumnae Development for the College where she created a national fundraising program, and she served on the steering committee to establish a chamber music series, the Friends of the School of Music at Converse. She collaborated with Carlos Moseley, former Manager/President of the New York Philharmonic, and Henry Janiec, Dean of the School of Music and Director of the Brevard Music Center, to attract internationally acclaimed artists and ensembles including Yo-Yo-Ma, Charles Wadsworth, The Beaux Arts Trio and Tokyo String Quartet. She has served on the executive boards of National and South Carolina Federation of Music Clubs, South Carolina Music Teachers Association, Spartanburg Music Foundation, Woman’s Music Club and Spartanburg Little Theatre. Ruth nurtured her son Edward’s musical career in violin and piano, which began at the age of four and included the Julliard School Pre-College division and the Aspen Music Festival. Today he is a multi-Grammy award winner and producer. In 1984, she became Director of Institutional Advancement at the Cushing Academy. This role included building an integrated development program, participating on the Headmaster’s strategic planning team and creating a comprehensive marketing program. During her twenty-year tenure, she achieved record fundraising, designed and implemented special events globally, fostered relationships with families and their children with extensive travel across Central and South America, Europe, the Pacific Rim and the Middle East. She was a founding trustee of the first Native American and Independent School collaboration of its kind. Ms. Mitchell is experienced in building networks across multi-national, multi-cultural and socio-economic differences. She continues to work with numerous nonprofits in the Boston area and joined the Advisory Board of Classics for Kids Foundation in 2011.

Judy Salter is the former President and CEO of Turtle Bay Exploration Park, an $82 million educational and cultural complex along the Sacramento River in Redding, California Ms. Salter has a background in business, government, and non-profit management. She served on the Washington staff of Senator Lloyd Bentsen, on the Jimmy Carter Presidential Campaign, as the first Administrative Director of Fort Mason Center in San Francisco (the first urban national park) and as the director of corporate and government relations for two major natural resource based companies. She has served widely on numerous arts and environmental boards and is a frequent host for public television educational programming.

Michael Tree's principal studies were with Efrem Zimbalist on violin and viola at the Curtis Institute of Music. Subsequent to his Carnegie Hall recital debut at the age of 20, Tree has appeared as violin and viola soloist with major orchestras, including Philadelphia, Baltimore, Los Angeles and New Jersey. As a founding member of the Marlboro Trio and Guarneri Quartet, he has played throughout the world and recorded more than 80 chamber music works. Prominent among these are ten piano quintets and quartets with Artur Rubenstein. Tree serves on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music, the Juilliard School, Bard College Conservatory of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, University of Maryland School of Music, and Rutgers School of Music, and regularly performs at the Marlboro Music School and Festival.

Dr. Thomas Wolf's career spans over four decades and encompasses the fields of philanthropy, education and the arts. He established the Cambridge office of WolfBrown in 1983 after serving as the founding Director of the New England Foundation for the Arts for seven years. His clients have included ten of the fifty largest US foundations, government agencies such as the National Endowment for the Arts, and treasured international cultural institutions like the British Museum, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and The Kennedy Center. Dr. Wolf has consulted directly with the leaders of major cities, including Chicago, Cleveland, Charlotte, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Philadelphia and Dallas on the creation of vibrant cultural communities. His workshops and convocations for trustees, administrators and volunteers have earned him national recognition. Tom holds a doctorate in education from Harvard, and has taught at Harvard and Boston Universities. He is the author of The Search for Shining Eyes: Audiences, Leadership and Change in the Symphony Orchestra Field, Managing a Nonprofit Organization in the 21st Century and Presenting Performances in the 21st Century, among numerous articles and books. A professional flutist, he is listed in the International Who's Who of Music.