Testimonials from Past Recipients
CALYSSA DAVIDSON (Violin)
“Thank you sooo much, Dr. Oberacker and the entire Scholarship Committee! I was so pleased to hear that I am an Award winner and my promise to you, the Santa Barbara Music Club, is to become the best musician and humanitarian I can be. It is my goal to spread music, not only because it is my passion, but I think it is an art form that many could greatly be influenced by. I feel so blessed and honored to be given this opportunity and I hope one day I will be able to support a scholarship through the Santa Barbara Music Club for students just like me. I will not forget what you have done for me.”
TRACY HARRIS (Flute)
“The Santa Barbara Music Club was there for me with financial support, performance opportunities, community support and career guidance. SBMC was an integral part of my musical education and played an essential role in allowing me to study with the best names in the industry. I can never thank SBMC enough for all they did for me in my formative years of study. They will always be a big part of the reason I am the successful concert artists I am today.
LESLIE ANN COOK (Soprano)
“UCLA Opera’s Leslie Anne Cook, a mezzo soprano with a rich, burgundy-tinted voice, gave a drolly sensuous account of Rossini’s “Una voce poco fa” from his Barber of Seville and an idiomatically wistful rendition of the “Violin Aria” from Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann. Cook’s work in UCLA’s rough-and-ready production of Handel’s Agrippina in 2010 was already strong. These performances confirmed she is now only an engagement or two away from professional roles.”
NINA YOSHIDA (Mezzo-Soprano)
NIKOLAUS SCHIFFMANN (Basso)
SEUNGAH SEO (Piano)
EVAN HUGHES (Basso)
THOMAS YEE (Violin)
ANNA ENGLANDER (Mezzo-Soprano)
Scholarship General Information
NOTE: This year, applicants will be able to email their applications. Please see instructions below.
Download the application here.
- APPLICATION DEADLINE: Application packages must be postmarked OR EMAILED toscholarships@sbmusicclub.org no later than SATURDAY, MARCH 28, 2026. There will be no exceptions, in fairness to all. If you are mailing close to the deadline, we strongly recommend getting your package postmarked in person at the Post Office, OR EMAILING at least 1 day in advance of the deadline; otherwise there is no guarantee your package will be postmarked/received the same day you mail it.
- AUDITION DATE and LOCATION: Auditions will be held Saturday, April 11, 2026 between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM, and Sunday, April 12, 2026 between 12:00 PM and 4:00 PM at the First Congregational Church of Santa Barbara (2101 State Street at Padre). All applicants must audition in person.
- AGE LIMITS (at time of application due date): Instrumental: 23 years; Vocal: 26 years.
- RESIDENCE ELIGIBILITY: Scholarship eligibility is limited to those whose permanent address is in Santa Barbara County. Applicants coming from outside the county to attend college in Santa Barbara County are not eligible. Applicants must currently be studying in, or have graduated from, pre-college schools within the Santa Barbara County, including homeschooling. P.O. Box addresses on the application form are not acceptable.
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PROFICIENCY ELIGIBILITY: Applicants must have completed a minimum of 3 years of private study and have achieved at least an intermediate level of proficiency. Although the Santa Barbara Music Club (SBMC) wishes to foster and encourage a love for music in all ages and levels of advancement, we ask that for scholarship consideration and auditions, teachers use discretion and avoid submitting students who have not yet become secure with fundamental facility in pitch, tone production, and technique on their instruments, regardless of their age.
Applicants most deserving of a scholarship award are those who perform above the expected level for their age and demonstrate a consistent rate of progress when reapplying in successive years.
- LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION: A letter of recommendation from the applicant’s current primary teacher is required. The letter must be signed and placed in a sealed envelope and mailed, and must either be included with the application package or mailed separately by the applicant’s teacher by the application deadline. Emailed recommendations will not be accepted.
- DETERMINATIONS: Scholarships are awarded based primarily on merit and secondarily on financial need. Eligibility and award amount will be determined solely by the SBMC Scholarship Committee.
- EDUCATION and USE OF FUNDS: Applicants should be in the process of pursuing their musical education and currently taking private lessons. Scholarship funds are primarily for tuition and should be used to further musical education. Travel, instruments and related expenses will also be considered at the discretion of the Scholarship Committee.
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REPERTOIRE: If an applicant has previously auditioned for the SBMC, new repertoire must be presented each year. Each musical selection must be at least 2 minutes in length. Audition time slot durations will be 8 minutes maximum; therefore, plan repertoire accordingly.
NOTE: Selections longer than 8 minutes are acceptable with the following options: applicant may use planned cuts to reduce performance time, or; applicant may allow the judges to decide when to stop and possibly restart the piece in a different place. Most importantly, applicant must be prepared to play the entire selection.
Requirements are:
- Instrumental: Two contrasting works from different historical periods.
Please Note: for pianists only, concertos are not accepted as audition repertoire. - Vocal: Two contrasting works, in different languages and different historical periods.
- Instrumental: Two contrasting works from different historical periods.
- ACCOMPANIST: Applicants are responsible for securing and paying their own accompanist.If one needs referrals for accompanists, please contact the SBMC Scholarship Committee.
- ONE AUDITION PER APPLICANT: Each applicant is allowed one audition slot, on one instrument or voice. Applicants cannot audition on more than one instrument.
Questions? Contact the SBMC Scholarship Committee at: scholarships@sbmusicclub.org
Download the application here.
You can view past scholarship recipients here.
2025 Scholarship Recipients
This year, we were pleased to award 40 scholarships to deserving students. Ages of the recipients ranged from 10 to 20 years. Many were featured in our Scholarship Showcase Concerts at First United Methodist Church on May 31 and June 7, 2025.
BETTY OBERACKER MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
- Chloe Silva, age 11, piano
ELLEN REIDEL MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
- Elisha Wu, age 13, piano
NATHAN RUNDLETT MEMORIAL VOCAL SCHOLARSHIP
- Amelia Checketts, age 15, soprano
EMIL TORICK MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
- Skylar Abello, age 10, violin
- Liam Lertchareonyong, age 13, violin
HERB & BERNADINE ALDWINKLE SCHOLARSHIP
- Aria Bonski Evans, age 16, soprano
- Emmanuel Malpica, age 16, violin
SANTA BARBARA MUSIC CLUB SCHOLARSHIP
- Tristan Abello, age 10, cello
- Anna Butler, age 18, piano
- Julian Carrera, age 13, trombone
- Maria Cook, age 16, piano
- Blair Guo, age 10, piano
- Nathaniel Hadsall, age 18, piano
- Ellie Haitsuka, age 14, piano
- Elaine Hu, age 16, piano
- Seungyoo Kim-Jung, age 13, violin
- Damian Magaña, age 15, flute
- Janette Prykhitko, age 17, soprano
- Simon Rencher, age 17, viola
- Nikki Seppala Kurnik, age 15, soprano
- Henry Woodruff, age 17, Viola
- Max Zee, age 14, piano
- Annabelle Zhang, age 11, piano
- Bryant Zhang, age 12, piano
- Jake Betancourt, age 17, baritone (voice)
- Ellen Butler, age 17, piano
- Kelly Chen, age 11, piano
- Allison Feinberg, age 16, violin
- Leon Guo, age 16, piano
- Noelle Hadsall, age 16, piano
- Jeffrey Hough Pattison, age 17, violin
- Matvey Ioffe, age 16, piano
- Miranda Li, age 14, piano
- Joseph Malvinni, age 17, guitar
- Milo Rencher, age 17, violin
- Oliver Saleh, age 17, trumpet
- Aidan Woodruff, age 20, cello
- Miles Yan, age 12, piano
- Angela Zhang, age 13, piano
- Ava Zhang, age 14, piano