Not the kind of wrangler you see on ‘Yellowstone’: Staffanson, a Montana ranch kid, re-invented himself twice—as symphony conductor and Native rights activist
Author Archives: Robert Staffanson
Dr. Robert Staffanson was author of the recent award-winning book, Witness to Spirit: My Life with Cowboys, Mozart & Indians. In a profile of Staffanson for the website Last Best News, writer Ed Kemmick asked the question: "Robert Staffanson: the most interesting man in Montana?"Born in Montana and growing up on cattle and horse ranches, Staffanson learned the ways of cowboy culture of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It hardwired values and perspective within him that animated his life in all of his endeavors. Leaving ranching after higher education which took him to urban centers, part of his heart remained in the open spaces of the natural world in Montana to which he returned frequently for spiritual and physical renewal.Educated in the United States and Europe, Dr. Staffanson has a wide background in classical music. Pursuing a professional career in music, he founded the Billings Symphony in his home state and conducted the distinguished Springfield Symphony in Massachusetts. During his tenure in the East he met and befriended Eugene Ormandy, Arthur Fiedler and Leonard Bernstein. He even knew Aaron Copland. At the height of that career he abandoned music to found he American Indian Institute which "focuses the unique strengths of both Indian and non-Indian cultures on behalf of mutual understanding and cooperation as a basis for peace within the human family, and on behalf of the welfare of the natural world," he said.