Rocky Mountain Strings

Rocky Mountain Strings is a performing group of accomplished young violinists based in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is directed by Ruth Godfrey, Leslie Henrie, Amy Oswald, and Corine Hart. Shelley Astle and Emily Williams are the accompanists, with Michael Thomas McLean as their in-house composer and arranger. RMS was formed in 1997 under the direction of legendary teachers Ramona Stirling and Deborah Moench who took them to perform at the Suzuki Association of the Americas Conference in Chicago (1998) and again for the convention in Minneapolis in 2006. At the invitation of the Wieniawski School of Music in Lodz, Poland, the young violinists performed in Poland and the Czech Republic in October 2000. In August of 2008 Rocky Mountain Strings visited Argentina, performing for thousands in concert halls with the Suzuki students of Buenos Aires and Cordoba. In 2011 RMS traveled to Belgium and France where they performed in various venues and participated in a workshop with the studio of Koen

Rens in Turnhout, Belgium. In 2015 they experienced an incredible tour of Russia, Estonia, and Latvia. In August of 2017 RMS toured Hungary, Austria, and Germany. In the spring of 2025 Rocky Mountain Strings toured Italy, performing for hundreds in Milan, Venice, Rome and Florence. This trip included a concert at the Viterbo Opera Theatre, and two inspiring collaborations with Italian Suzuki students and teachers.

This outstanding organization has toured throughout Utah, Idaho, and Colorado. Locally Rocky Mountain Strings loves performing at venues such as Libby Gardner Hall, the Assembly Hall on Temple Square, Interfaith Choir Festivals, conventions, churches, private parties and senior communities. On several occasions Rocky Mountain Strings has been featured in the lobby fests of the Utah Symphony and the Salt Lake Symphony. Every spring the group donates several school assemblies to spread the love of classical music to other young people.