Musicians & Personnel
2025-2026
Board of Directors & Staff
Conductor & Music Director:
Dr. Beverly Everett
Executive Director: Katey Lutz
Co-Concertmasters:
Elyot Kivi & Sarah Hamrin
Personnel Manager & Librarian: Gretchen Rusch
Stage Manager: Mattea Elhard
Board of Directors:
Rita Albrecht, Co-Chair
Martin Graefe, Co-Chair
Brent Ekstrom, Treasurer
Stu Rosselet, Past Chair
Sue Rosselet, Secretary
Eve Sumsky, Music Committee Liaison
Melissa Bartlett, Louise Jackson, Tim Lutz
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Katey Lutz has served as the Executive Director of the Bemidji Symphony Orchestra since September 2022. She spent three years prior cultivating her skills for business management as the general manager of a locally owned business. During her undergraduate years, she interned with a non-profit organization that ignited her passion for working in the non-profit sector. Outside of her professional life, she teaches yoga, practices her Spanish skills, attends as many musical events as possible, enjoys reading and spending time with her friends and family. She is thrilled to be part of an organization that aims to enrich and educate our community through the arts. Katey has enjoyed making Bemidji her home and hopes to appreciate its natural beauty and arts community for years to come!
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Since 2005, Dr. Beverly Everett has served as Music Director for the
Bemidji Symphony Orchestra. In 2009 Dr. Everett was the youngest-ever recipient of the "Friend of the Arts" award in Bemidji, and in 2011 she was awarded a Region 2 Arts/McKnight Career Advancement Fellowship that she used to study with JoAnne Falletta. Dr. Everett is also Music Director for the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra, a position she has held since 2008.
Everett champions living composers and has been involved in numerous commissioning projects and premieres. A composer herself, she has composed scores for documentary films, orchestra and organ.
Everett holds degrees from Baylor University and the University of Iowa. She is the author of three children's books, is an avid runner, and is passionately involved with animal rescue. She maintains her own website at www.beverlyeverett.org.
BSO Musicians
Audition Information:
Musicians who are interested in auditioning to play with the BSO are invited to contact Gretchen Rusch for details.
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Elyot Kivi is the Co-Concertmaster of the Bemidji Symphony Orchestra and currently teaches violin, viola, and piano at Headwaters Music & Arts, where they also serve as the Music Program Coordinator. They hold a Bachelor's degree in Violin Performance from St. Cloud State University and a Master's degree in Violin Performance with an emphasis in Suzuki Pedagogy from the University of Denver.
Throughout their career, Kivi has performed with a variety of orchestras, including serving as Assistant Concertmaster of the Bemidji Symphony Orchestra from 2012–2015, as a first violinist with the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra, and as Concertmaster of the St. Cloud State University Orchestra. They especially value the collaborative nature of music-making—whether performing in large ensembles, small chamber groups, or guiding students as they explore and grow in their musical journey.
Kivi is delighted to be back in Bemidji and looks forward to continuing their work with the BSO and the community.
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Sarah Hamrin grew up in the Bemidji area and started musical study at the age of four. She earned a BM in viola performance from Baylor University in 2020, where she studied with faculty on violin, viola, and piano. Her primary teachers include Dr. Bruce Berg (violin), Dr. Kathryn Steely (viola), and Dr. Kae Hosoda-Ayer (piano). Sarah has performed in a variety of ensembles, including symphony orchestra, pit orchestra, choir, and both new and early music ensembles. She has been a guest soloist with the Bemidji Symphony Orchestra on viola, and was a finalist at the American Viola Society Collegiate Solo Competition in 2018 and the Baylor Concerto Competition in 2020. In collaborative piano work, she has primarily worked with string players, though has also accompanied vocalists and choirs. She enjoys playing as a church pianist and is working to add organ to her repertoire of instruments. When not playing or teaching music, Sarah can be found painting, hiking, spending time with her cat, and tending to her garden.
