Executive Director & Board of Directors

Kathryn has served as the Executive Director of Bakken Ensemble since 2021. She is a producer at Minnesota Public Radio, where she currently leads the production team at the nationally-broadcast classical music program “Performance Today.” She had previously worked for the radio programs “Live From Here,” “A Prairie Home Companion,” and “Pop Vultures,” and spent several years at Open Eye Theatre, where she managed the acclaimed Driveway Tour travelling puppet show program. Born and raised in Milwaukee, Kathryn was educated in music, theatre and modern dance at Winona State University and holds a Master’s degree in music performance from the University of Minnesota.

Erik Bestmann has served on Bakken Ensemble’s Board of Directors since 2022. Erik works as a User Experience Designer at Thomson Reuters, designing software used for legal research and global trade management. However, his professional career didn’t always involve such technical work. Erik began as a trombonist. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education at Augustana College and continued studying music at Arizona State University where he earned a Master’s degree in performance. While living in Arizona, Erik had the opportunity to perform with the Phoenix Symphony and Arizona Opera (as well as some really fun salsa bands) and fell in love with orchestral performance. Orchestra led him to New York where he completed a Professional Studies Diploma at Mannes School of Music at The New School. After graduation, Erik began a dual career, working for 16 years at Mannes as Director of Concerts and Event Promotion, and performing as a freelance trombonist. Through his arts administration career, he gained experience as an event manager, producing each year’s 500-concert season and in marketing and visual design through promoting the events. After a move home to Minnesota in 2018 and a career pivot into UX design, Erik remains involved with music in his personal life and through Bakken Ensemble.

Martha has been a member of the Bakken Ensemble’s Board of Directors since 2015, most recently completing a six-year stint as its Vice President. In 2022, Martha retired from a career in the law, having practiced in the area of public finance at Kennedy & Graven, Chartered for 18 years. She is a graduate of St. Olaf College (BA in French Language and Literature) and the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor (MA in French), and worked as a French-to-English translator for ten years prior to graduating from the University of Minnesota Mondale School of Law in 2004. Her college experience simultaneously fostered her love of performing and listening to classical music and killed her delusions of becoming a professional cellist. Chamber music and volunteer service run in Martha’s blood, both as an amateur musician and as the daughter of the founders of Lincoln Friends of Chamber Music in Lincoln, Nebraska, where she grew up attending chamber music concerts and stuffing donor mailing envelopes from an eyebrow-raisingly young age. Martha has also served on the board of directors of the King Field Neighborhood Association and the Minnesota Institute of Public Finance, among other roles. Martha lives in Minneapolis, where she enjoys biking, gardening, and knitting (though not all at once).

Holly currently serves as the Bakken Ensemble’s Secretary. She joined the board in 2019. Holly has had a lifelong love of music starting piano and flute lessons in grade school. After retiring from 35 years as a cardiac and research nurse she took up the cello and met Pitnarry Shin, the cellist and Artistic Director of the Bakken Ensemble. She fell in love with the ensemble’s chamber music style and was very excited to join the board to promote this wonderful ensemble.

Item descPaul Mohrbacher has served on Bakken Ensemble's board for four years. He holds a Master’s Degree in Latin and classics from the University of Minnesota. He was director of communications and community relations at the Science Museum of Minnesota where he was a staff member for 32 years. At the Science Museum he helped assemble volunteer committees from the community to advise the museum on special exhibits such as the museum's exhibit on Race. He served as staff liaison to the museum's American Indian Advisory Committee. He represented the museum on the board of the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary on Saint Paul's Eastside. His most unforgettable episode as museum public relations coordinator was floating three large mechanical dinosaurs on a barge down the Mississippi River from north Minneapolis to downtown Saint Paul to promote a new exhibit at the museum. He developed the Great Tix program to significantly increase museum attendance by low-income families. Before his museum stint, he taught at Nazareth Hall Seminary in St. Paul during the 1960s, coaching theatre and teaching Latin and Greek. He is a playwright and novelist.ription

Ruth graduated from the University of Minnesota in Music Education. Her entire work and volunteer career has been with nonprofit organizations. After her brief teaching career she went to work for the Minneapolis Urban Coalition where she conducted The National Revenue Sharing Study. For 33 years she was the Executive Director of The Community Design Center of Minnesota (now called Urban Roots.) She is currently (and for the past 16 years) on a special contract with the Mississippi River Watershed Management Organization-Mississippi River Green Team. She has been on a number of boards over the years: The National Association of Community Development Centers, The Minnesota Project, Women’s Economic Alliance, Women of Many Voices, Fundacion Social and Associated Enterprises, trustee for the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts, board member of the Illusion Theatre and panel member for the National Endowment For the Arts, and the Minnesota State Arts Board. Presently she is serving on the board of the Bakken Ensemble and the board of the Friends of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Tracy has been a member of Bakken Ensemble’s Board since 2014. She served as Secretary from 2014-2016 and President from 2016-2023. Tracy began her career as the Director of Marketing & Public Relations for Opera Memphis. This role capitalized on her musical background, passion for the arts, and business skills. After returning to Minnesota and earning an MBA from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, Tracy chose to apply and hone her research and strategy skills as a moderator and qualitative market research consultant. Tracy’s commitment to service and philanthropy began as a teen volunteer for the MN Zoo. While in Memphis, she continued her dedication to animal welfare as a volunteer for both the Memphis Humane Society and the House of Mews (a no-kill cat sanctuary). She also became active in the local arts community by helping to establish cross-organizational events and promotions, including a young professionals group. Tracy has remained an avid supporter of the MN Zoo and Animal Humane Society, and since returning to the Twin Cities, has been actively volunteering with local arts and animal welfare organizations.

Mary currently serves as Bakken Ensemble’s President. She has been a member of its Board of Directors since 2009, served as Vice President from 2016 to 2017, and served as Secretary from 2017 to 2022. In her “day job,” Mary is Partner and Co-Chair of the Indian Law and Alaska Native practice group at Dorsey & Whitney LLP, where she has practiced law her entire career. A big focus of Mary’s law practice is representing Indian tribes, tribal entities, tribal members, and entities doing business with tribes in all types of federal, state, and tribal tax matters. In other volunteer roles, Mary served Madeline Island Chamber Music as a member of its Board of Directors from 1991 to 2004 and from 2006 to 2021 and as Secretary and member of the Executive Committee from 1994 to 2004, among other roles. Mary also served Benilde-St. Margaret's School as a member of its Board of Directors from 1992 to 1996 and as Board Chair in 1994-1995, among other roles. Mary is a lifetime resident of Minneapolis. She graduated from Carleton College in 1980 and New York University School of Law in 1984. Mary played the oboe from age 13 to 23 and learned then to love chamber music, which might explain why she gravitated as a grown-up to volunteer work with not one, but two, great chamber music organizations.