MCS founder calls ouster a ‘hostile takeover’

Karin Wedemeyer alleges campaign to remove her as executive director

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

A leadership shakeup at the Music Conservatory of Sandpoint has made waves throughout the community, with the news in late August that Executive Director Karin Wedemeyer would leave her position 17 years after founding the nonprofit music education organization.

While the Board of Directors, under the leadership of President Frank Geisler, issued a press release late on Aug. 26 characterizing the move as “a new chapter” in which Wedemeyer had “transitioned out of her executive leadership role,” she was adamant that the departure was involuntary.

“I am being accused of being insubordinate! Well yes! I am a fiercely independent woman and am obsessively creative, AND, I am someone who is not afraid to stare down cultural anxiety. And most certainly, I will not just blindly follow orders!” she wrote in a statement shared with the Reader.

“Perhaps this is the noose that now has been laid around my neck as I am on a forced leave of absence as I seek to defend what I hold precious and have always believed, so does this community!” she added.

Wedemeyer, who in addition to her work leading the conservatory also co-founded Bel Canto Opera and the North Idaho Philharmonia, stated that she is “under attack from within the school,” with a board direction under Geisler that “envisions a new horizon for the school.”

“My voice, perhaps perceived as outdated and too blunt, has been silenced,” she wrote. “My work has been interrupted. My fearless approach to cultural anxiety has been met with dismay and my voiced concern about excessive financial risk-taking has been met with hostility. And then the new chair announced it was now personal — the beginning of retribution or a vendetta, either way one wants to look at it.”

Wedemeyer went on to describe a campaign of “harassment,” including being “accosted in public” and “spied on” as a board member allegedly photographed her car. On top of that, she alleged that she’d been locked out of her email, had her pay withheld and “forced” into a leave of absence while being “cut out” of the recent, highly successful local presentation of “Carmina Burana” at the Panida Theater, for which she’d spent a year preparing but was removed as a soprano performer right before the concert.

The MCS Board stated that the organization undertook a self-study through the Western Association of Schools and Colleges in 2025 that will serve as the basis for implementing strategies to set priorities “providing a clear roadmap for strengthening the school’s organizational capacity, opportunities for students and positioning MCS for continued advancement.”

The board added that MCS will focus “on operational clarity, staff professional development and curriculum designed with distinct success pathways from preschool to 12th grade.”

Kathi Samuels will serve in “an interim leadership role,” drawing on her 14 years of experience as an MCS volunteer and recent development director. In addition, she holds a master’s degree in education from Penn State University and boasts 30 years of school administration and teaching experience.

“The Music Conservatory has an unmatched foundation, and I am motivated to step in,”  Samuels stated in the Aug. 26 press release. “This is an opportunity to honor what has been built while also looking ahead; our students, instructors and the mission of the school will remain our top priorities.”

Geisler joined the MCS Board in 2024 and took on the role of president in 2025, highlighting decades of business experience and community involvement — particularly in California, as a longtime Rotary member and chamber of commerce CEO. In addition, he spent 40 years serving on boards including the Carmel Music Society and Monterey Jazz Festival.

“The board is confident about this next chapter for the conservatory,” Geisler stated. “Karin’s vision created an organization with an exceptional legacy, and we are grateful for all she has contributed. Because of its strong foundation, the conservatory has reached an important point in its evolution. We see tremendous potential for our students and staff, and we are excited to put the goals identified through our comprehensive review into action.” 

When asked for additional comment on the specific reasons for Wedemeyer’s departure and a response to her public statements, Geisler referred the Reader back to the Aug. 26 press release and added, “It is the board’s policy not to discuss personnel matters in public or in the media.”

MCS officials stated in their Aug. 26 release, “The Board of Directors, and truly the whole community, is grateful for Karin’s transformative vision, dedication and tireless leadership in building the conservatory into the vibrant school of performing arts it is today and recognizes her as founder emerita.”

Former MCS student Charlene Rawuka-Stigall told the Reader in an email that her “heart is heavy” and “what’s unfolding with Karin Wedemeyer being pushed out is not just an administrative change. It’s a loss that ripples through every student she ever lifted up.”

“Seeing her forced out of the very institution she built feels like watching someone tear down the foundation of a home that sheltered so many of us,” Rawuka-Stigall wrote, adding that without Wedemeyer’s influence and the support of MCS, she would not have pursued classical voice studies at Santa Monica College; earned her degrees in elementary education and music and literacy from Eastern Washington University; nor attained the position of music director for the Pend Oreille Playhouse in Newport, Wash.

“I grew up inside those conservatory walls. That building was where I learned discipline, courage and the kind of self-belief that only comes from a teacher who sees more in you than you see in yourself,” she wrote. “Karin was that teacher for me. She didn’t just train my voice — she shaped my future. I am a classically trained opera singer today because she poured her time, her expertise and her heart into me. She taught me how to stand tall, how to breathe through fear and how to trust the sound I carried.”

Rawuka-Stigall added that Wedemeyer’s separation from MCS is “painful, confusing and deeply wrong. And I know I’m not alone in feeling this. … I believe the community deserves to hear from those of us whose lives were changed because Karin chose to build something beautiful in Sandpoint.”

While the board sang Wedemeyer’s praises in its Aug. 26 release and highlighted her years of dedication to MCS, she pushed back in her own statement.

“I have faced belligerent behavior when being outspoken. I have noticed serious conflicts of interest and reckless financial decision making and staff being devastated and not knowing whom to trust anymore,” Wedmeyer wrote.

“At the end, after months of being sidelined and observing a carefully orchestrated (yes, pun intended) hostile takeover, I have placed my trust into the hands of a lawyer so I understand my rights,” she added. “I also place my trust into the hands of the public so that the conservatory may not be sold to the highest bidder.”