Board & Staff members

2024-2025 KVYSO Board

Scott Taylor, President 

Raffael Scheck, Vice President

Stephanie Taylor, Treasurer 

Shari Estes, Secretary 

Donna Maher, Board Member and Webmaster

Angela Figoli, Board Member

Scott Taylor is the father of two high school violinists. He is enthusiastic about supporting KVYSO and helping it thrive for decades to come. When not at his day job as a mathematics professor at Colby College, he enjoys playing his old Conn 8D. 

Raffael Scheck was born in Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany). He is John J. and Cornelia V. Gibson Chair in History at Colby College, where he has taught since 1994. He has published six books and forty articles and chapters. Before becoming a historian, he studied cello for several semesters with Claude Starck at the conservatory of Zürich. He has more recently specialized in baroque cello and performed with a variety of baroque groups in Maine, including the Colby Collegium and Music' Quill. He has participated many times in the Portland Early Music Festival. 

Stephanie Taylor grew up in Southwick, MA, taking ballet and flute lessons. In college (Gordon College), she turned her focus to mathematics and computer science, but has never lost her love for the arts. In graduate school in Santa Barbara (UCSB), she studied circadian clocks, and for fun, went on bike rides and attended as many musical performances as time allowed. In 2008, she and her husband, Scott, moved to Waterville to teach at Colby College. Their sons George (15) and Milo (12) study violin with Betsy and Lori. Her research into circadian clocks continues, but it didn't allow the family to avoid jet lag when they traveled to Japan with the Pineland Suzuki School.

Shari Estes grew up in Gorham, Maine, taking piano and voice lessons and singing in choirs and musicals whenever possible, especially with a certain tenor whom she eventually married.  At Smith College, where she continued voice lessons and choral singing, she minored in Music and majored in Education and Child Study.  She returned to Maine and taught sixth graders at the James H. Bean School in Sidney for seven years before staying home to homeschool her own children, create and direct a homeschool co-op, and lead some children’s and adult choirs at her church.  Shari and Rob are thankful that their youngest two children, Diana (cello) and Martin (clarinet), have the opportunity to play in KVYSO.

A librarian at the University of Maine at Augusta, Donna Maher holds a masters degree in woodwind performance and a Ph.D in Music Education from Texas Tech University. Her bachelors degree is from Arizona State University. Following a full-time public school and collegiate music teaching career, she earned her Masters in Library and Information Science from the University of South Carolina and is delighted to make Maine home. In her spare time, she raises two dogs and her husband.

Angela Figoli is the proud mother of three musical children—all singers, with one who also plays several instruments. She works as an administrative assistant at Stepping Stones Montessori School, where her love of spreadsheets and organization shines! Growing up as a dancer in Central Maine, Angela developed a deep appreciation for classical music, which was further nurtured through her son Eben's seven years of playing violin (and viola in the early years) with KVYO and KVYS. She cherishes the sense of community she found through the youth orchestra and looks forward to continuing her support and contributing to its mission as a board member.

KVYSO Staff members

Lori Scheck, Education Director & Orchestra Manager

Lori grew up in Endicott, New York, and began playing violin at the age of 8. After her first year of lessons in public school, she began taking private lessons and studied the Suzuki method until the age of 18. She was also a member of the Binghamton Junior Symphony in Junior High and served as concert master in her 8th grade year. In High School she joined the Binghamton Youth Symphony Senior orchestra. She was a member of her high school orchestra and second violinist in her high school quartet. She competed yearly in the New York State music festival as a chamber group member, orchestra member, and in solo performance. After moving to Maine in her early 20’s she took a 14 year hiatus from playing the violin. After some child rearing and other major life changes, she resumed playing violin in late 2001. She has studied privately with Steve Kecskemethy, principal violinist of the Portland String Quartet. Lori attended Suzuki teacher training classes for Suzuki instruction at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York, Hart Music School in Hartford, Connecticut, and Stanford University in Paolo Alto, California. Lori is an active board member of the Maine Suzuki Association and is a certified Music Together teacher. She has been teaching violin privately and teaching group classes for over 20 years with the Pineland Suzuki School based in Manchester, Maine. She currently has a studio of 25 private students, ranging in age from 3-17. She is the orchestra manager and mentor of the Kennebec Valley Youth Symphony Orchestras in Augusta, Maine. She is also a member of the Colby College Symphony Orchestra in Waterville, ME. Occasionally, she plays piano trios and string quartets with other area musicians. 

Note: Board meeting minutes are available upon request. Please email info@kvyso.org