Officers
Steven Machtinger, President
Long-time board member and orchestra player Steve Machtinger was elected President of the Marin Symphony Association Board of Directors in 2015. Steve has enjoyed dual careers as a securities lawyer and violist, and currently serves as General Counsel at Code Advisors, an investment bank in San Francisco. Steve has played viola in the Marin Symphony since 1982 and has also performed with the San Jose Symphony, Sacramento Symphony and Boston Pops. In recent years, he has been exploring the philosophical implications of the music of Mozart and has given lecture-performances at the Commonwealth Club, Humanities West and the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center in New York. He and his wife Susan live in Tiburon.
Nancy Rehkopf, Vice President
Nancy Rehkopf has been a member of the Marin Symphony’s Board of Directors since August 2016. Joining the board completes the circle for Nancy, as she started her career at the San Francisco Symphony in the Marketing department. She also plays the piano, guitar, and contrabass, and sings in the Marin Oratorio. A recently retired senior executive from Wells Fargo, Nancy has over 30 years of experience in marketing strategy and corporate communications. Her valuable business and non-profit leadership and experience will help guide the Symphony on its mission to enrich, educate, and transform lives through classical music. In 2017, Nancy was named Executive Director of the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art.
Kate Sears, Vice President
Kate Sears served as a Marin County Supervisor, representing southern Marin, from 2011 until January 2021, including two stints as President of the Marin County Board of Supervisors. During her tenure, Kate served on numerous county and regional boards and commissions and has been extensively involved with county climate action and greenhouse gas committees and campaigns. A hallmark of Kate’s work is bringing people together to find common ground and develop collaborative, creative, and effective solutions to the myriad issues we face.
Prior to serving as a Marin County Supervisor, Kate was an attorney in private practice and then in the Consumer Law Section of the California Attorney General’s Office, where she investigated and filed lawsuits on a wide range of fraudulent conduct related to the financial crisis. Ms. Sears holds a BA from Carleton College, a MA from the University of Washington, a PhD in Political Science from the University of Michigan, and a JD from Harvard.
Renee Rymer, Secretary
Renee Rymer has served on the Marin Symphony Association board for over 20 years. She brings years of banking experience as well as a knowledge of Marin County to the Board. She is a classical music lover, amateur pianist and singer, and she sings in the Marin Symphony Chorus. She holds an MBA from SF State University, an MA from UC Berkeley in German, and a BS from the University of Minnesota. She spent her Junior year abroad at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. Renee is a member of ACSO, Association of California Symphony Orchestras.
Margot Golding, Treasurer
Margot is Marin Symphony’s Principal Oboist, and joined the board in 2015. Her music career includes Principal Oboe positions in The Oakland Symphony, The California Symphony, The Fremont Symphony, as well as fellowships at Tanglewood, Colorado Philharmonic, and Aspen. In 2015, Margot left commercial banking after 33 years with Continental Illinois National Bank & Trust, Harris Bank, and Wells Fargo. She held a number of different banking positions, with her last position as Western Regional Manager of the Education and Nonprofit Banking Group.
Margot holds a B.A. in East Asian Studies from Oberlin College, and a B.M. in Oboe Performance from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. She is currently Board Chair for Goodwill of San Francisco, San Mateo, and Marin Counties and holds a board position with San Francisco Contemporary Music Players. She has served on the President’s Advisory Board for Oberlin College. Margot is an empty nester in Noe Valley with her husband.
Board of Directors
Lynn Callender
Lynn began a 30-year music teaching career after receiving her music education degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where she serves on the School of Music Board of Visitors. Lynn has been active in the Marin arts community as a longtime member of the board of Youth in Arts, member of the Winifred Baker Chorale, Consort Chorale, and Marin Symphony Chorus. She has been an enthusiastic patron of the Marin Symphony for 25 years and is excited to serve on its Board. Lynn and her husband live in Greenbrae.
Mary Denton
A retired non-profit leader, Mary has enjoyed a business in consulting and serving as CEO of Side by Side that serves at-risk young people and their families. In addition to serving on the board of Marin Symphony, she has served on the board of Marin Humane Society and served as board president for Friends of Marin Center.
Joanne Dunn
Joanne’s contributions to Marin have been many and varied. She has served Marin County arts and service organizations as founder, board member, fundraiser and PR person for decades. She cofounded four major arts organizations: Youth in Arts, Youth in Arts Auxiliary, Marin Arts Council, and Artworks Downtown. Joanne has also worked tirelessly for the Marin Ballet, Marin Wildcare (formerly Terwilliger center) and San Francisco Theological Center’s Montgomery Chapel. Joanne is mother of a grown daughter, and lives in San Rafael.
William Eichar
Bill has been involved in music and music education through much of his adult life. Prior to moving to Marin in 2011, Bill served on the board of the Music Institute of Chicago from 2003-2009. During his time as Board Chair, Bill was involved in a capital campaign to expand the Music Institute. This included the acquisition of a former North Shore church that was turned into a 500 seat performance hall, with the lower level being turned into acoustically isolated teaching rooms.
During his business career, Bill has served in senior management roles within Kraft Foods and Catterton Partners and most recently, has been a founder of two food start-ups, including Boardwalk Frozen Treats (taking Baskin Robbins ice cream into grocery stores) and the Better Food Project, which recently acquired Go Raw sprouted snacks.
Renee Froman
Renee Froman began her violin studies with Charles Meacham and Hugo Rinaldi. She played with Marin Youth Orchestra and Orchestra Piccola through high school and feels this experience was invaluable and set her on a course for a professional life as a musician. After graduating UC Berkeley in violin and piano, Renee played with the Galilee Orchestra in Israel, and then worked in Hollywood, editing recordings for Angel Records/EMI. Currently playing with several Bay Area orchestras, she also works as a piano accompanist and teaches piano in her Berkeley studio. She has served on the Marin Symphony’s Board of Directors since 2009.
Erica Posner
Erica Posner is a musician representative to the Marin Symphony Association’s Board of Directors and has been a community player and cellist in the Marin Symphony for over 40 years. In high school, she was a member of the Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra under the direction of Hugo Rinaldi. She loves playing in the orchestra, making music with the friends she has made there, and watching young children squirm during the Family Concerts. The Symphony is Erica’s musical home, which she shares with her husband, Larry, who has played 2nd clarinet in the Orchestra for 44 years.
Elizabeth Prior
An active Bay Area violist, Elizabeth Prior is the principal violist with the Santa Rosa symphony and is also a season substitute with the San Francisco Ballet. She recently joined the New Century Chamber Orchestra. Elizabeth is associate principal with the Marin Symphony and performs regularly with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and The Farallon Quintet. She is also member of the Skywalker Philharmonic. Other orchestral credits include Freiburg Philharmonic (Associate principal) and Cape Town Symphony. She also joins our Maestro Neale with the Sun Valley Summer Symphony. She has toured and worked with Südwestfunk, Stuttgart Radio, Basel Symphony, and the Mannheim Opera Orchestras. A native of South Africa, she was a prizewinner in the International String Competition in Pretoria and gave her debut at Carnegie Hall with the Russian Chamber Orchestra.
Joshua Rafner
Among Mr. Rafner’s community and non-profit activities, he currently serves as a Trustee and Treasurer of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and on the board of the Marin Symphony. He is also the Founder and President of the Ralston White Retreat Foundation in Mill Valley, California, and is a co-founder and board member of the Kentfield-Greenbrae Historical Society. He is a past President of the Kent Woodlands Property Owners Association.
Marty Rubino
(in memoriam) 1961-2024
Marty Rubino joined the Marin Symphony Board in 2014. He and his wife, Gayle Peterson (Marin Symphony Marketing Director), owned and ran Big Cat Advertising. Marty was President and Publisher of the Marin Independent Journal where it was recognized as Large Business of the year during his time at the helm. He is past Chair of the Volunteer Center of Marin and Vice-Chair of Lifehouse, and also served on the Board for Bread & Roses and Marin Literary Partners. He was Board member of the year for the San Rafael Chamber of Commerce. He was gracious and helpful, and touched so many in our community. He will be sorely missed, and our thoughts are with Gayle and family.
Sally Schroeder
Sally has loved music all her life, starting with hearing her father practice his violin when she was very small. She thought it was the most beautiful sound in the world! Over many years, Sally has played some instruments, sung in choral groups, and always been an enthusiastic audience member for classical music performances. She taught elementary school for many years, and that job morphed into becoming a classroom music teacher dubbed the “singing lady!” Sally has been a member of the Marin Symphony Board of Directors since 2015 and treasures the opportunity to work on behalf of so many fine musicians. The orchestra is superb, and her hope is that more and more people will have the thrill and good fortune of hearing and knowing their music as she does.
Stacy Scott
Marin resident and catering veteran Stacy Scott has operated her own business with her husband and business partner, Chuck Ciaccio, for more than 30 years. It is a five time winner of Pacific Sun’s Best of Marin. In 2019, they had been appointed culinary directors for Vivavalon, formerly known as Whistlestop, where they have been serving a thriving and appreciative community. Stacy’s experience in special events and culinary contributions have been a valuable asset to the Marin Symphony. She has served on the board since 2011.
Madeleine Sloane
A longtime patron, retired attorney, and developing artist, Madeleine is excited to return to the Marin Symphony Board. She studied law at UC Davis, and was Secretary of the Board for Nicasio School District.
Judith Walker-Weissman
With Judith’s 30 years of experience with stock portfolios, she brings valuable insight to Marin Symphony’s investment team. For 18 years, she served as Vice President of Wealth Management at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, before pursuing her dream of running her own business. She has served on Marin Symphony Special Events, Development, Investment, and Executive Committees, and on the board of directors since 2011. Judith is a graduate of Portland State University, and lives in San Rafael with her husband, Bruce, and King Charles Spaniel, Oliver.
Emeritus
Louis Bartolini †
Marge Bartolini
Jim Boitano
Crawford Cooley †
Donald Dickey †
Alfred Heller †
Grace Hughes
Ronald Johnson
Stafford Keegin
Alice T. May †
Gloria Miner †
Elizabeth Mulryan
Catherine Munson †
David Poff
Mary Rabb
Hugo Rinaldi †
Peter L.H. Thompson
Dr. Frances L. White
Helen Willms