Who We Are!

Kristine Pacheco-Bernt (she/her) is a professional violinist, arts administrator, and music educator motivated to make instrumental music relevant within the community. Raised at the intersection of mariachi and Mozart, she draws upon over a decade of performing and teaching experience. Kristine strongly believes in the power of creative youth development through music and is proud to bring her perspective and skills to the non-profit arts sector.
Prior to her work at the Santa Barbara Symphony, Kristine served as a Teaching Artist at the Incredible Children’s Art Network (iCAN) music program, an El Sistema-inspired initiative in Santa Barbara providing free after-school music classes and academic enrichment to 120 elementary school children from an under resourced community. She currently maintains a private violin studio designed to support students at all levels of musical development. She enjoys bringing together school administrators, families, and music professionals to create dynamic music education programs.
Kristine holds a master’s degree in violin performance from San Francisco State University and dual bachelor’s degrees in music and Premedical Studies from University of California Berkeley. She performs regularly throughout the central coast with the San Luis Obispo Symphony, the Santa Barbara Symphony, and the Santa Maria Philharmonic. She devotes her spare time to playing board games with her husband and spoiling her pug, Hilda.

DeeDee has been a member of the Alexandria Symphonic Orchestra, the Beach Cities Symphonic Orchestra, and the Santa Barbara City College Symphonic Orchestra. She has also sung in numerous choirs; including Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church, All Saints Beverly Hills, Quire of Voyces, Canticle, First United Methodist Church of Santa Barbara and FIrst Presbyterian Church of Santa Barbara. DeeDee currently studies violin at the McKenzie Violin Studio and plays on a 1712 John Barrett violin that she inherited from her great grandmother.

Attended CSUN, studied Viola with Milton Thomas and Myron Sandler. Played viola in studios from 1973 to 2000. Worked with various recording artists: Michael Jackson, Gladys Knight, Prince, Madonna, Gloria Gaynor, etc. Movies include Close Encounters, Fried Green Tomatoes, The Color Purple and many others. Live performances include leader of a small ensemble playing Persian Music in a night club (1979-1980). Appeared on Midnight Special backing up Wolfman Jack. Moved to Santa Barbara in 2000. Currently plays with Santa Barbara Symphony (since 1973) and Santa Barbara Choral Society. Teaches violin and viola. 

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Jimmy hails from Roseville, Minnesota by way of Guangzhou, China, and is currently a graduate student in experimental physics at UCSB. A member of the SBCC Symphony's viola section, Jimmy also enjoys playing the piano, cooking, and traveling.

Esther Frankel recently retired from teaching information technology at SBCC. She started playing the piano at an early age. In elementary school, one of the teachers wanted to start an orchestra, and recruited every student who could read music to play violin. She switched to viola in junior high. Esther attended the High School of Music and Art in NYC, and played in the NYC All-City Orchestra. She has a Master's degree in Music History and Theory and taught in that field for several years. After a long hiatus, she took up the viola again a while ago, and currently plays in the SBCC Symphony.

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Alan Wood is a bagpiper and drummer.  His interest in traditional music from around the world, particularly from Scotland and Ireland, has influenced his focus on the Scottish bagpipes and the Irish bodhrán.  He appreciates the raw sound and power of the Scottish pipes and the unique tonal qualities, rhythmic potential, and overall versatility that the bodhrán offers.  Alan enjoys connecting with audiences, and seeks to involve and transport listeners through the vast range of emotion of this music.  Alan plays with the local group, Shepherd’s Pie, and with the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Dept. Pipe and Drum Corps.  He can also be found competing at Highland Games and Scottish Festivals throughout California.

Laurie Rasmussen has been a musician since childhood but her destiny was made clear when she discovered the Celtic harp in 1986 and she built her own instrument from a kit. This piqued her interest in the building and design aspect of the instrument and she consequently spent two years working as a luthier. Then she grew tired of breathing all that sawdust and discovered that she gained more enjoyment from playing harps rather than building them. Time spent traveling in the British Isles and studying with traditional players instilled in her a love of the traditional Celtic genre and set her on her professional path.

An award winner in both the US and Europe, she brings a graceful touch and unique interpretation to traditional Celtic repertoire. As a performer Laurie has been a featured guest at major festivals in the US, Canada and Europe, both as a soloist and in ensemble. Her career has led to a wide variety of performance adventures: She appeared in Reno as Music Director and cast member in the Irish dance show Spirit of the Dance; while living in Italy she performed regularly in Renaissance castles, Baroque churches, public piazzas, German villages, folk clubs in Sicily, Milan, Frankfurt and Heidelberg and on a mountain top in the Apennines with Galician bagpipers. Laurie currently lives in Santa Barbara, CA where she plays with symphony orchestras, jazz bands and folk ensembles. An enthusiastic instructor with a passion for sharing the beauty of her instrument, she is the harp instructor at Santa Barbara City College and also teaches children and adults in her private studio. She is the owner of Harps by the Sea, a showroom of harps and accessories in downtown Santa Barbara.

http://harpsbythesea.com

Before completing his degree in music, Michael Witt studied with Brendan Bayliss of Umphrey's McGee and Dean Wachs at Indiana University in his hometown of South Bend. He then completed his degree in Classical Guitar at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro where he studied guitar with Mark Mazzatenta and was part of the Miles Davis Jazz Program. His varied repertoire and versatile skills lead him to perform and instruct a wide variety of genres for many different audiences. Mike has studied Master Classes with the L.A. Guitar Quartet, Christopher Parkening, and Odair Assad, among others, and has performed for countless audiences on classical and electric guitars. He is now teaching and performing in Santa Barbara, CA, including involvement with the Santa Barbara Folk Orchestra, the annual Feed the Funk Benefit Concert, New Noise Music Festival and other local community festivals.

A recent transplant from the East Coast to California, Adam is a board certified music therapist (MT-BC) since 2014. Adam holds a Bachelor’s degree in jazz guitar from SUNY New Paltz and a Master’s degree in Music Therapy from Montclair State University. 

As a music therapist, Adam is passionate about helping others through the gift of music. Throughout his professional career he has witnessed others grow personally and professionally and improve their health and well being as a direct result of music therapy. Adam believes that the skills developed through music are applicable to all aspects of life and that music can truly act as medicine for the mind and body.

Adam currently works as a music therapist at Peace of Mind Counseling and Wellness Center in Berkeley Heights, NJ, working with clients through online platforms and has 34 years experience in many aspects of music, and this has greatly enhanced his music therapy skills and approach, including his experience as a teacher, mentor and performer with expertise in a wide array of styles, including jazz, rock, blues, folk, classical, etc.

Adam has extensive music teaching and performance experience, teaching privately as well as in stores and studios in New York and New Jersey, Adam has taught at SUNY New Paltz, The National Guitar Summer Workshop (CT campus), Rockland Community College, and Orange County Community College. Adam has studied guitar with Mark Dzuiba, Jeff Ciampa, and Vic Juris, and continues his studies with occasional online lessons from artists such as Mike Stern and John Stowell. 

As a performer Adam has worked as a sideman for various projects in upstate NY, NJ and New York City as well as leading his own jazz trio/quartet. Adam has performed in bars, clubs, restaurants, private parties, and weddings with various groups. Adam enjoys performing music as a way to connect, inspire, entertain, and uplift others.