Erin McKibben is an active Grammy-nominated performer, educator, and conductor in Southern California, originally from Portland, Oregon. She is the Director of the Music Academy’s Sing! choral program and Director of the Santa Barbara School of Music. Erin is principal flutist for the Los Angeles-based experimental classical ensemble, Wild Up, whose performances have been listed in both the LA and New York Times "Best Of" lists.  Their album "The Pieces that Fall to Earth" was nominated for a Grammy and their latest album, “Femenine,” listed on NPR’s Top 10 albums of 2021.  She has performed at the Aspen Music Festival, Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Hahn Hall at the Music Academy, Colburn’s Zipper Hall, Warner Brothers Studios, The Granada Theatre, Brooklyn's National Sawdust, several National Flute Association Conventions as a prize winner, as a soloist at the Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood, and with the LA Philharmonic, the experimental LA-based Opera company, The Industry (performing in the acclaimed productions, "Hopscotch" and "Sweet Land"), and the International Contemporary Ensemble. As a chamber musician, Erin has participated in the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition and has been heard on Santa Barbara’s classical music radio station as a featured artist. Erin has also been engaged as the Keynote Speaker for the College Music Society. Erin holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Puget Sound and a master's degree from the University of Michigan, where she studied with Amy Porter as a fellow.

Steven Browning Thomson is Director of Music and Organist at All Saints-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Montecito. He recently completed his master's degree in Choral Conducting at UCSB, studying with Dr. Nicole Lamartine and directing the university's Tenor/Bass choir, the Singing Gauchos. Steven also serves as the Assistant to the Conductor of the Santa Barbara Choral Society. Steven holds a master's degree in Humanities from the University of Chicago, with a specialization in Ethnomusicology. He has a particular passion for Armenian choral music, inspired in large part by his 27 months living and working in the Republic of Armenia as a teacher with the US Peace Corps. While in Armenia, Steven formed and directed a 40-member children's chorus, sang with the Hover State Chamber Choir of Armenia under the direction of Sona Hovhannisyan, and studied voice with Anna Mayilyan. At UCSB, along with Choral conducting, he pursued advanced coursework and research in ethnomusicology and continued voice studies with Dr. Isabel Bayrakdarian. In June 2022, Steven was pleased to present a program of Armenian choral music to the Santa Barbara community as the guest conductor of the Adelfos Ensemble.

Kristine Pacheco-Bernt (she/her/ella) 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 minuets, 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 all kinds of projects. Previously, Kristine served as a Teaching Artist at the Incredible Children’s Art Network (iCAN) music program, and as the Director of Education at the Santa Barbara Symphony. 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.

Andrea Fullington received a master's degree from the Early Music Institute at Indiana University and has sung extensively with many ensembles specializing in music written before 1750. She was a founding member of the unique and controversial ensemble Bimbetta, and has toured and recorded with Theatre of Voices, American Bach Soloists, Magnificat, and been a soloist at many Early Music Festivals in the United States and Europe. Beyond Early Music, Andrea’s projects include a recording of John Cage’s music and Steve Reich’s Proverb, which she premiered at Lincoln Center and toured throughout Europe with Steve Reich. Since the birth of her two children, Andrea has focused more on teaching fundamental musical skills, voice, and musical theater to children and sharing the joy of music-making with people of all ages. She studied and taught the Orff Schulwerk method - a holistic approach to music education that uses language, percussion, movement, and improvisation as the building blocks of musical expression and discovery. She was the co-founder, and later Board Chair of the East Bay Community Music Project, based in the Bay Area, which provides musical experiences and connection for entire families and communities. Andrea has been delighted to work with many children’s music theater productions as a music director and stage director and is thrilled to bring her years of experience as a choral singer and an educator to her role at Sing!

Crystal Hosea is a local voice teacher and music educator with over 20 years' experience guiding singers on their musical journeys. Crystal received a Bachelor of Music degree in Choral-Vocal Studies from the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at Long Beach State University where she studied conducting under the baton of Dr. Jonathan Talberg and voice under the guidance of Elisabeth Pehlivanian.

A versatile musician, Crystal has sung professionally with the Pacific Chorale in Orange County, CA, as a section leader and cantor at various churches, and as a studio singer in Los Angeles. In 2016, Crystal published the first novella and accompanying guide to a music curriculum and book series that caters to the unique environment of home education. She has since released three additional levels with three more in development.

Crystal is a highly sought after vocal masterclass clinician for young singers, having successfully hosted masterclasses with the shyest of beginners in an inner-city youth chorus, budding stars at the prestigious Orange County School of the Arts, and as a guest clinician for international choirs. An intuitive and compassionate educator, Crystal has the ability to meet students where they are and gently guide them into an awareness of their individual instruments, where they can then feel comfortable and confident sharing in the music-making process whether singing in the car with friends or on stage to an audience of thousands.

Cora Stolper is an award winning mezzo-soprano and educator, originally from Germany. She has performed with companies all over the world such as Opera Santa Barbara, Opera Frankfurt, Kammeroper Köln, Junges Theater Hamburg, and Carnegie Hall. Important roles include Alma in the world premiere of A bad man’s life at Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg, Annas in Jesus Christ Superstar at Center Stage Theater Santa Barbara, and Margaret Fuller in the world premiere of musical theater production Transcendent in New York City. Cora not only has a rich experience in performing opera and musical theater, but she also loves to sing chanson, pop, and cabaret, is an avid improviser, and writes her own songs, released under her artist name Cora Wonderland.

Cora Stolper is a passionate educator and a leading expert on how to sing with children. She has trained over 30 preschool teams in Germany and the United States, and was a lecturer for “how to sing with children” at the University of the Arts, Bremen, where she also helped designed the curriculum of the post-graduate degree. She has been leading movement and music classes all over the world and has been singing and dancing with children throughout the Philippines, Peru, Germany, and the United States.

Cora holds a master's degree in vocal performance from the City University of New York – Brooklyn College, and a bachelor's degree in elementary music education, creative movement and dance, and vocal pedagogy from the University of the Arts, Bremen.

Italian pianist Alvise Pascucci has been awarded over 60 prizes in national and international competitions, recently including his First Prize in the 2nd International Franz Liszt Center Online Piano Competition, and the Budapest Concert division at the 2022 Los Angeles International Liszt Competition. He has performed in various venues, including Steinway Hall in London, UK; Military Circle Hall in Ploieşti, Romania; Teatro degli Industri of Grosseto, Italy; Dar Sebastien in Hammamet, Tunisia; and the Gnessin Academy of Music concert hall in Moscow, Russia. He has played as a soloist with several orchestras, including Orchestra Città di Grosseto, the Taipei Philarmonia Orchestra, and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Ploiesti. Recently, he performed concerts in New York at the Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall, as well as concerts in Taiwan, Italy, the UK, and Hungary.

Demonstrating his musical versatility, in addition to the piano, Alvise started to learn the violin at the age of nine. After graduating in September 2006 from St. Cecilia Conservatoire in Rome, Mr. Pascucci decided to concentrate on his piano studies. He completed his degrees in the R. Franci Conservatoire and the Chigiana Academy of Siena, P. Mascagni Conservatoire of Livorno, International Piano Academy of Imola, and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of London studying with Martino Tirimo. In 2017 he relocated to Indiana, obtaining a Performer Diploma from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, studying with Roberto Plano. He is currently working towards his DMA at UC Santa Barbara with Paul Berkowitz, where he has been awarded the prestigious Chancellor’s Fellowship.

Mariliz Romano is a Santa Barbara–born pianist and music educator whose musical journey began early—appearing at age five in a student recital at Abravanel Hall (now Hahn Hall) at the Music Academy of the West through the local Santa Barbara music teachers association. She grew up participating in Bach Festivals and regional competitions and was later awarded the MTAC Young Artist Guild distinction, which included a solo recital at the Lobero Theatre. Her early musical life also included accompanying the Santa Barbara Children’s Theatre, performing as a soloist with the Santa Barbara Symphony, and touring on keyboards with Daniel Lentz’s New Music Ensemble, highlighted by a 1986 performance at Carnegie Recital Hall.

Mariliz earned her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at UC Santa Barbara with Peter Yazbek and completed a Master of Music in Piano Performance at the University of Washington under Robin McCabe, along with K–12 Music Specialist certification in vocal and elementary music.

She spent more than 20 years in eastern Washington teaching elementary music and middle- and high-school choir and band, leading marimba classes, and maintaining a thriving private piano studio. She also served for a decade as Church Pianist and Music Director at Shoreline Unitarian Universalist Church in Seattle, and worked extensively as a collaborative pianist with Seattle-based choirs as well as Santa Barbara’s Adelfos Vocal Ensemble.

A versatile multi-instrumentalist, Mariliz also enjoys improvising, playing electric bass and Celtic harp, and singing and arranging pop songs and jazz standards—often sharing them at private events and gatherings. After 30 years away, she has returned to Santa Barbara, where she teaches private piano and remains active as a collaborative pianist and performer throughout the region.

Grace is a recent graduate from Lewis & Clark College (Portland, Oregon) where he earned a bachelor's degree in Music, with a concentration in Vocal Performance. A singer and keyboardist, Grace has also studied piano from a very young age, and at Lewis & Clark studied accompaniment with piano professor Stephanie Thompson.

In his final year at Lewis & Clark, in addition to completing his senior vocal recital featuring a diverse program of art songs and arias, Grace also provided piano accompaniment for the school’s theatre department, and was the alto section leader in the premier level choir, Cappella Nova, under the direction of Dr. John Cox. Grace currently sings in the choir of Trinity Episcopal Church, and regularly performs in a number of engagements around Santa Barbara.

Sara has extensive experience as a choral collaborative pianist, most recently at Ellensburg High School in Ellensburg, Washington, and over 30 years at the Visalia School District in Visalia, California. She holds a degree from Fresno State University in Education.

Kevin Huang is majoring in Music Performance, with an emphasis in Piano, at the University of California, Santa Barbara, under the tutelage of Dr. Charles Asche and Dr. Natasha Kislenko.  Equally comfortable in solo and group settings, Kevin’s piano skills take him from the classical canon to jazz improvisation.  Kevin is an avid cyclist and loves working with the young artists of Sing!

Nicholas Jurkowski graduated with a PhD in music theory from University of California Santa Barbara, where he now lectures. His dissertation, “Joining Forces in Technology: Three Analytical Case Studies of Early Corporate-Sponsored Electronic Music,” focuses on the establishment of three early electronic music studios and the works produced therein. He has presented at conferences in North America and Europe, including at AMS and the West Coast Conference for Music Theory and Analysis.

He holds a master's degree in music theory from Bowling Green State University, and a bachelor's degree in trombone performance from the University of Puget Sound.

Sophia Bakaev (or Sophie) is a classically trained soprano from Santa Barbara. She holds both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in vocal performance from California State University, Northridge. Her performance experience includes solo and ensemble work, as well as an intensive vocal program in Vienna ( International Vocal Artists Academy of Payerbach), where she had opportunities to study and perform internationally. Since returning to Santa Barbara, Sophia has sung with the Santa Barbara Choral Society, Santa Barbara Master Chorale, and the Santa Barbara Symphony Chorus, and she also serves as a church soloist.

Alongside performing, Sophia is passionate about music education. She loves helping shape future musicians and is so excited about being a part of the Sing! team. She is a strong believer in the importance of music for everyone, especially children, so is thrilled to be a part of such an amazing program.

Looking ahead, Sophia hopes to perform with opera companies around the world and aspires to one day open her own music studio or school, where she can combine her love of performing with her dedication to teaching.

Angelina Kharrat is a young vocalist studying at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), earning her bachelor's degree in Music Studies with a minor in Linguistics. Angelina has been involved in numerous chamber choirs from elementary through high school, and is currently a soprano in UCSB’s chamber choir led by Brent Wilson. She has toured most of California as well as the East Coast with this choral group, and is interested in pursuing a career in speech/music therapy to help and inspire young children through music.

Angelina performed in numerous theatre productions in high school and recently participated in UCSB’s Shrunken Heads Production of Sweeney Todd. Angelina also serves as the UCSB music department's head of reception for all student concerts and recitals.

Mia Paul is a cellist involved in solo, chamber, and orchestral music. Notable ensembles Mia has partaken in include the San Louis Obispo Symphony, Santa Barbara Chamber Players, Ensemble Theatre Company Santa Barbara, and the Winter Solstice Chamber Orchestra at The Granada Theatre. Mia has performed at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice, Italy, as well as recorded at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, CA. Mia Paul is currently in her last year at UC Santa Barbara, studying with Jennifer Kloetzel and Diane Chaplin.

At UC Santa Barbara, Mia has performed in masterclasses for the Juilliard String Quartet, Kronos Quartet, and Callisto Quartet. During the weekends, Mia instructs Santa Barbara youth musicians as a Professional Music Educator for Santa Barbara Strings, Site Coordinator for Music Academy of the West’s Sing! program, and cello coach for Santa Barbara Symphony’s Youth Camerata and Philharmonia.

Outside of music, Mia is the Executive Assistant for the Associated Students Office of the President, a student of the Letters and Sciences Honors Program, a research assistant in the UCSB Music and Brain Cognition Lab, as well as a Professional Writing Business Communication and Educational studies double minor.