In Memory of Betty Oberacker

Betty Oberacker, pianist, is internationally acclaimed for her interpretations of both traditional and contemporary solo and chamber music repertoire, and has toured throughout Europe, Israel, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and the U.S., including performances at Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Berlin Philharmonic Hall and Vienna Musikverein. She has been Artist-in-Residence at 55 universities, conservatories and music festivals worldwide, and many important composers have dedicated their compositions to her. Her musical gifts were evidenced at three, when she began to play the piano and compose entirely by ear. Piano lessons started at age seven, and at nine she was accepted on scholarship as the only child student of the noted pianist Beryl Rubinstein. Her BM/MM Degrees are from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and her DMA Degree is from Ohio State University, where she was concomitantly a member of the piano faculty. Her discography includes Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier (Clavier Records), A Bach Commemorative Recital (MIT Great Performances Archives), Chamber Music of Emma Lou Diemer (Orion), Schönberg’s Pierrot Lunaire (Century), John Biggs’ Variations on a Theme of Shostakovich (VMM), and Diemer’s Piano Concerto (MMC), the latter two works composed for Oberacker. Honors accorded her include a Fulbright Research Fellowship to Italy and the University of California Distinguished Teaching Award, and her students hold important positions as performers and teachers in the U.S., Asia and Europe. Dr. Oberacker is UCSB Professor Emeritus, and enjoys an active performing, teaching and chamber music coaching schedule.

Jane Hahn, singer and flutist, grew up in Santa Barbara, and has studied and performed as a singer and a flutist her whole life. Her modest singing career includes several comprimario roles with Opera Santa Barbara, and she has been the soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah in Santa Barbara, Ventura and Santa Maria. Jane has directed the women’s vocal ensemble, LUX, as well as choirs at St. Michaels and Trinity Episcopal churches. Jane studied flute at the college level at UCSB, and continues to practice and perform as a freelance musician today, lately branching out into the Jazz genre. Jane is a retired Software Engineer and Project Manager. She and her husband are very proud of their two married sons and their precious grand-daughter. Her hobbies include yoga, pottery, and house-building with her husband.

Steve Hodson is Professor of Music at Westmont College where his duties have included teaching piano and organ, conducting, and music survey, and leading various singing groups. He conducts the Santa Barbara Master Chorale and serves as organist at First United Methodist Church of Santa Barbara. Hodson holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is Vice-President of the Western Division of the American Choral Directors Association (encompassing California, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona), and past President of California ACDA. He enjoys performing on piano, organ, and harpsichord and is an accomplished accompanist.

Nicole McKenzie, violinist, has performed widely as soloist and chamber musician. The Santa Barbara Independent declared, “McKenzie made a splash… she performed with gorgeous musicality.” Winner of the Sutton Chamber Music Award, she graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy, earned a BM degree from Oberlin Conservatory, an MM degree from Florida State University, and studied with Gary Kosloski at the Music Academy of the West. She has studied improvisation with Christian Howes. Ms. McKenzie is concertmaster of the Santa Barbara Folk Orchestra, and performs in the accordion/violin duo Continental Cafe. She played electric violin in M.O.B. Jazz Ensemble, and regularly concertized with renowned pianist, Betty Oberacker. She has taught music to students of all ages, and is currently the elementary music teacher for the Carpinteria School District. She has worked at UC Santa Barbara as a lecturer and as a music director and music performer in the Theater and Dance Department. She has created a collaborative dance and music improvisation group and has performed in various music styles including classical, jazz, folk, klezmer, and musical theater. She performs on a violin created for her by Michel Eggimann of Rome, Italy.

Pascal Salomon, piano, was born in Israel, grew up in France, and has concertized as recitalist, concerto soloist, and chamber music pianist in Europe, Israel, China, and the U.S. He has been featured soloist with prominent European orchestras, and has recorded three solo and chamber music CDs. A dedicated teacher, Dr. Salomon taught piano for 9 years at the Conservatoire de Musique de Genève, Switzerland, and has served as collaborative piano faculty member at Westmont College.

He is currently building the upcoming Santa Barbara Conservatory of Music, which will offer a complete music education for grades 1-12 in the Santa Barbara area with a mentorship approach and possible scholarships.

David Singer, clarinetist, enjoys a career as one of the most highly respected clarinetist in the United States. The New York Times proclaimed, “To describe Singer’s playing would be to enumerate a catalogue of virtues.” Principal clarinetist, Emeritus, of the Grammy Award-winning Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, his performances include the White House for Presidents Carter and Clinton, guest artist with the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, and chamber music concerts with Yehudi Menuhin, Yo Yo Ma, Rudolf Serkin, and members of the Guarneri and Emerson String Quartets. Gramophone Magazine affirmed, ”His playing is exceptional … sensitive and expressive, technically brilliant.” “Singer’s Copland performance is one of the finest accounts around.” Of his West Coast premiere of the Aldridge Concerto with the L.A. Chamber Orchestra, the Los Angeles Times noted, “… teeming with energy, rowdy, ethnic and fun.” The Max Reger Institute in Karlsruhe, Germany selected Singer’s recording with Rudolf Serkin of Reger’s Clarinet Sonata Op. 107 to be reissued internationally in 2023, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Today, he performs with the Singer Chamber Players and the Channel Islands Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Dr. Kuan Fen Liu. His debut memoir, From Cab Driver to Carnegie Hall, captures his extraordinary life in music—sharing behind-the-scenes and often humorous stories of the legendary figures he has known, and offering inspiration not just to musicians, but to anyone chasing a dream. In September, 2025, it was announced that David Singer and From Cab Driver to Carnegie Hall is the WINNER of The NYC Big Book Award in the category of – Autobiography. An audiobook of From Cab Driver to Carnegie Hall with possibly one big surprise addition is in the process of being made. For more information, visit www.singerclarinet.com.

A native Manhattanite, Eric Valinsky has, for more years than he would like to admit, maintained dual careers in computer systems architecture and music. He was educated at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the University of Illinois, finally achieving his DMA in music composition from Columbia University. He studied composition with Walter Aschaffenburg, Salvatore Martirano, Jack Beeson, and Darius Milhaud; piano with Sara Crawford Drogheo and Emil Danenberg; and conducting with Harold Farberman. While living in Los Angeles, he became music director and composer-in-residence for The Storie-Crawford Dance Theatre Ensemble. Returning to New York, he served in a similar capacity for Danny Buraczeski’s Jazzdance, Uris Bahr and Dancers, and The New American Ballet Ensemble as well as composer-in-residence for The Rachel Harms Dance Company, Opera Uptown, and the Dance Department at City College of New York. He is currently Music Director for the American Dance & Music Performance Group and moonlights as founder and partner of Inlineos LLC, a strategic Internet consulting company.