Santa Barbara Music Club Free Concert April 23, 22

THE SANTA BARBARA MUSIC CLUB

2021-2022 SEASON

Saturday, April 23, 3:00 PM

First United Methodist Church

305 E. Anapamu Street at Garden

 Santa Barbara, CA

Admission Free

The Santa Barbara Music Club presents a program of beautiful classical music performed by renowned artists on Saturday, April 23, 2022 at 3 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, 305 E. Anapamu.  Tachell Gerbert and Bradley Gregory, duo pianists, will perform Mozart’s delightful Sonata in B-flat Major, K. 358 and Emma Lou Diemer’s handsome By the Sea (2202), the latter work written for them, and cellist Virginia Kron and pianist Betty Oberacker will interpret Beethoven’s majestic Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 69.  Admission is free.

Tachell Gerbert and Bradley Gregory, duo pianists, have reputations as both concert performers and teachers.  Winners in the 3rd International Piano Duo Competition, they established their piano teaching studio in Thousand Oaks in 1986 and are active members of the Music Teachers’ Association of California (MTAC).  They each received BM Degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory and MM Degrees from UCSB, with emphasis in piano ensemble.  While working with Wendell Nelson at UCSB they were introduced to the music of Emma Lou Diemer, as the Variations: Homage to Ravel, Schönberg, and May Aufderheide was written for Dr. Nelson and his wife Marjorie.  Tachell and Bradley have performed this dazzling composition in Italy and Japan as well as in the U.S.  Avid exponents of Diemer’s music, they presented the premiere performances of Fiesta (1995) and Norteamexispanicumsake (1996), both two-piano works composed for them, and in 2000 they were the pianists in the premiere of Diemer’s Mass, with the Ojai Camerata.

Virginia Kron, cellist, was hailed in the Los Angeles Times: “Accomplished cellist … has done her best to keep alive the music of our time” and by the Ventura County Reporter:  “Virginia evoked a rich, dark tone from her 300 year-old instrument.”  From her extensive career, of special note is her premiere of John Biggs’ Cello Concerto with the New West Symphony and subsequent recording with the Czech National Symphony, and most recently, her premiere of Jimmy Calire’s Jazzical Cello Sonata.  Her original album, “The Crystal Harp,” evoked this tribute from the American Library Association Booklist Review: “This original humorous fantasy, written and performed by Virginia Kron, features clear, well paced narration and delightful music.”  She has a B.M. Degree from the University of Wisconsin and a M.M. Degree from USC, and has long been a pillar on cello at California’s Cabrillo Festival. A frequent collaborator with UCSB’s Ensemble for Contemporary Music with featured festival performances and recordings, her dedication to the music of our time is further manifested by recordings and concerts with noted Celtic harpist Kim Robertson.

Betty Oberacker, pianist, is internationally renowned as soloist and chamber musician and has concertized throughout Europe, Israel, Asia, Australia, Mexico, and the U.S.  Rome’s Corriere della Sera asserted, “An artist of the highest order!   She is a fascinating interpreter.  Her playing, imbued with an intense lyricism yet fervent and impassioned, earned for her a glowing success,” and Berlin’s Der Tagesspiegel observed, “She performs with profound comprehension of the music’s essence and with intuitive certainty of its effect, with conquering energy and sensuously sonorous interpretations.”  Her musical gifts were evidenced at age three, when she began to play the piano, accompany, and improvise entirely by ear; piano lessons started at seven, and at nine she was accepted as the only child student of the noted pianist and composer Beryl Rubinstein.  She earned her DMA Degree from The Ohio State University while concurrently a piano faculty member, and her honors include three invitations to perform and teach in China – the first American solo pianist to be so honored.  UCSB Professor Emeritus, she enjoys an active performing, teaching, and chamber music coaching schedule.

A valued cultural resource in the community since 1969, the Music Club’s mission is threefold:

(1)       Presentation of an annual series of concerts, free to the public.

(2)       Aiding and encouraging musical education by the disbursement of scholarships to talented local music students.

(3)       Presentation of community outreach activities, including bringing great music to residents of area retirement homes.

For information on this or other Santa Barbara Music Club programs and performing artists, visit SBMusicClub.org.

For the health and safety of our audience and performers:

In accordance with public health guidelines, all patrons, including children under the age of 12, must show proof of full vaccination (final COVID-19 vaccine dose administered at least 14 days prior to the concert date) or proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of arrival.  Masks are required, and must cover both nose and mouth.  Social distancing is required.

Santa Barbara Music Club concerts display a wonderful diversity of historical musical periods and compositional styles, including beloved masterworks and exciting new and seldom-heard repertoire.  Of the series, the Santa Barbara Independent exclaimed:  “A beautiful day, a beautiful room, beautiful music … who could ask for more?” and Gerald Carpenter in Noozhawk.com declared, “Every Santa Barbara Music Club concert that I have ever attended has been a sensory joy as well as a consciousness expansion.”