Board of Directors

Bob Dant
Bio

Bob Dant, President

Bob is a retired U.S. Air Force officer who first came to Hawaii in 1962. He and his wife, Penny, returned home to Maui in 1994 after 28 years of service in the military.

Bob began a “new career” in 1995 as a Program Manager at the Maui High Performance Computing Center (Maui Research and Technology Park), before retiring in 2011. He has been a Past President and an active Rotarian since 1995 with the Rotary Club of Upcountry Maui.

Bob graduated from the University of Hawaii (BS-Mechanical Engineering) in 1966 and obtained a Master’s Degree in Aeronautical Engineering in 1968 from Arizona State University. Before retiring from the Air Force, Bob also obtained a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Arkansas and a Doctorate of Education Degree from the University of Southern California.

Bob joined the Maui Pops Orchestra Board of Directors in 2005 and has served as a Past President of the Board (2007-2009). He has been the current Board President since 2013.

Lorne Direnfeld Bio

Lorne Direnfeld, Vice President

Lorne Direnfeld is a Maui neurologist with a life-long interest in music and dance. He has been a Maui Pops Board member since 2007. He feels very strongly about the importance of music in our lives and is glad to have the opportunity to help support live orchestral music on Maui. Lorne is also an avid tap dancer!

Cori Pohle
Bio

Cori Pohle, Secretary

Born and raised in Honolulu, Cori Pohle’s first memories of classical music were through school visits to the Honolulu Symphony programs at the old Civic Auditorium under the direction of George Barrati. Now retired from Valley View Protea Farm in Kula, Cori has been a dedicated volunteer for numerous organizations, including various school boards, the American Cancer Society, Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge, and the Maui Police Department, for which she served as member and Chair of the Police Commission. Along with her husband Richard, Cori continues to be an avid supporter of the arts and looks forward to contributing to the further success of the Maui Pops Orchestra.

Joan Padgett Bio

Joan Padgett, Treasurer

Joan Padgett is a realtor with Windermere Valley Isle Properties. She has played violin in the Maui Pops Orchestra since its inception, and previously with the Maui Symphony Orchestra for many years.

Jim Durham Bio

Jim Durham, Music Director / Conductor

Music Director James Durham brings to the Maui Pops a lifetime of symphony orchestra experience. James has been involved at every level of music, from public schools to elite professional symphonies.

James has a Master’s Degree in Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music, and also studied at the Aspen Music Festival and Tanglewood Music Festival. He was a violinist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra from 1974-1988, and enjoyed performing with many of the finest conductors and soloists.

James is the recipient of the 2009 Maui County Commission on Culture and the Arts’ Pundy Yokouchi Award for his work with the Maui Pops Orchestra. He is one of the founders of the Maui Pops, and is committed to keeping symphonic music accessible and exciting for Maui residents and guests.

Janet Allan
Bio

Janet Allan

Janet Allan has served on the Maui Pops Orchestra Board of Directors since its inception 5 years ago. She has also served on the Boards of the Maui Arts & Cultural Center (15 years), West Maui Cultural Council (30 years), Maui Nui Botanical Gardens (8 years), Art Maui (10 years), and Viewpoints Gallery (10 years). She taught English in Hilo and ballet in Waimea in the 60’s and has enjoyed all the magical wonders of Maui since 1972. She is especially grateful to all of the contributors to the Maui Pops Orchestra. We really appreciate your support!

Auriol Flavell Bio

Auriol Flavell

Auriol Flavell is a major sponsor of the Maui Pops Orchestra and was on the Boards of the Maui Philharmonic Society and the Maui Symphony Orchestra, as well as a founding member of the Maui Memorial Medical Center Foundation. She is also a sponsor and producer for the Maui Academy of Performing Arts (MAPA).

Adele Heide
Bio

Adele Heide

Adele was born and raised in New York City and educated in the public school system. Music appreciation was a part of the curriculum and provided her first exposure to classical music and composers, such as Bach and Mozart. After a long working career with General Electric, as well as various other companies that took her from New York to Honolulu and to San Francisco, she is now retired and living in Maui for almost 20 years.

Marjorie Lang
Bio

Marjorie Lang

Marjorie Lang moved to Maui in 2010 after vacationing here every year since 1980. She has a long-standing interest in the Arts. She recently retired from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and looks forward to enriching her life here through involvement in the Arts. Margorie played violin as a child and has always loved music.

Jim McLemore Bio

Jim McLemore

Jim McLemore is married to Annie McLemore, and his daughter is Elaine McLemore. He moved to Maui in 1968, became a licensed General Contractor in 1975, and a licensed Real Estate Salesperson in 1979. He was a member of the Maui Jaycees. In 1985 he went to the Southwest Guitar Conservatory in San Antonio, Texas, then returned to Maui and started the musical group Jimmy Mac & the Kool Kats, which is Maui’s favorite dance band and is now Hawaii’s top “Corporate/Convention” band. The band also performs for numerous non-profit organizations around the state.

Astrid Heckert Bio

Astrid Heckert

Music has always taken a very important place in Astrid’s life. When she was 6, she fell in love with the sound of a harp after seeing Lili Laskine on television. That’s the way everything started. Astrid was fortunate that her parents were music lovers, as well, and they enrolled her at the Royal Conservatory in Lyon – France. When she was 15, she realized that she would not become as famous as Lili Laskine, and that she would have a better chance to just keep her harp and classical music as a passion, but not pursue it as a career. That was a heartbreaking.

Astrid ended up doing her university in Paris with a major in accounting and finance. When she had her admission interview for the university, she remembers mentioning to the board that she would love to work in the management of events related to classical music.

When she was in France, her oldest son sang in a choir for 4 years. The choir ended up being very famous, and they travelled all over the world. Astrid was involved a lot in this choir, a member of the board for 4 years, and Chairman for 1 year. This was a wonderful experience; pretty challenging as the choir was growing and usually, with fame, come challenges!

Astrid is now, a “couple” of years later, the Director of Finance at the Fairmont Kea Lani Resort in Wailea, Maui.

Margo Rowland Bio

Margo Rowland

Margo is a Registered Nurse and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and has worked part time for the past 16 years at the Community Clinic of Maui. She has been involved in many volunteer community projects including organizing the beautification of the Five Trees Intersection in Kula. Margo’s interest in music and the arts was inspired by visits with her grandmother in Carmel, California who played and performed on a Boesendorfer Piano.

Mike Trotto
Bio

Mike Trotto

Born and raised in New York, Mike came to Hawaii in 1964 courtesy of the US Navy. He moved to Maui in 1977 and retired from MECO in 2001. Mike has been a Realtor with Pali Kai Realtors since 2004. He has been enjoying Maui Pops events since they started and looks forward to helping to keep the Maui Pops up and running.

Nichole Kosar Bio

Nichole Kosar

Nichole began studying music at an early age thanks to constant support from her parents and teachers, focusing on many different instruments before being introduced to the bassoon during her teenage years. In 2007, she earned a bachelor’s degree in music performance from Rowan University where she studied bassoon with Dr. Lawrence J. Stewart, an influential mentor in her life.

Always having an interest in business, she then went on to study at the University of Miami and earned master’s degrees in both music business and arts presenting. Still being interested in music performance and the non-profit world, she continued to study bassoon as well as contrabassoon and held jobs playing with the Miami Symphony Orchestra and Miami City Ballet, and worked for Classical South Florida, the area’s classical music radio station.

After her time in Miami, Nichole moved back to her home state and worked in the New Jersey Department of State for the State Council on the Arts, which continued to build her interest in the connection between the Arts and their surrounding communities. It was during this time that her love for Maui developed after a vacation to the island. In 2016 she decided to make the move to Maui and is excited to work as part of a team dedicated to sharing the Maui Pops Orchestra with the public

Cheryl Lindley

Executive Director

Juliana Patao

Musicians’ Representative

Gary Salenger

Director Emeritus

Bio

Gary Salenger, Past President

Gary Salenger practiced Dermatology for 35 years with the Maui Medical Group, but has always had his heart in Music, also. He has served on the boards of the Maui Philharmonic Society, the Maui Arts and Cultural Center, the Maui Symphony and as a founding board member of the Maui Pops Orchestra.