Catherine Del Russo received her Bachelor of Music Degree and Performance Certificate at the Eastman School of Music where she studied with Robert Sprenkle. She also received her Masters of Music Degree from Ohio University where she studied with John Mack in Cleveland.
Since then, Ms. Del Russo has performed around the world, beginning with the Eastman Wind Ensemble to the Far East as Principal Oboe. After that, she performed with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Orchestra Filharmonica de Caracas, and Orquesta Municipal in Caracas, Venezuela. Ms. Del Russo has played with many orchestras in Los Angeles, including the Glendale Symphony Orchestra, the Santa Barbara Symphony, Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, the Desert Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, the Los Angeles Mozart Orchestra, Riverside Symphony, San Bernardino Symphony, and was Associate Principal Oboe with the Honolulu Symphony. Currently, she is Principal Oboe of Opera Santa Barbara, Orchestra Santa Monica, Downey Symphony, Asia America Orchestra, and solo Enlish horn with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Catherine has enjoyed playing on films, commercials and television shows. She has been a promoter of chamber music and new music in Los Angeles. In 2011, she won the Consortium of Southern California Chamber Music Presenter's with a chamber music trio for oboe, viola and piano. Catherine is the founding member of Lobo Ensemble, a chamber music group, with oboe, violin, and cello, for which she performs recitals regularly. Catherine is Professor of Oboe at Westmont College and Occidental College.
Andrea Di Maggio has been praised for her "stellar playing and social grace" by the Santa Barbara Independent. Studying with French Flutist Isabelle Chapuis, Andrea graduated from San Jose State University with her degree in flute performance and was granted a teaching and performing position at Arizona State University. As a student of Jill Felber, Andrea received her M.M. from the University of California Santa Barbara. Since settling in Santa Barbara, Andrea has been granted performance awards from the Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation, the Santa Barbara Foundation, the Santa Barbara Music Club, the Music Teacher's National Association, and the Leni Fe Bland Foundation. Andrea is a regular performer for Westmont College, the Santa Barbara Music Club and the West Coast Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, as well as a participant in masterclasses and area orchestras. She is a founding member of Sonos5winds, the Woodwind Quintet-in-Residence at Westmont College, where she is the flute faculty. Additionally she is the flute instructor for the Westmont Academy of Young Artists and has been on the teaching faculty of Santa Barbara City College. Andrea's private and college students have won awards from the National Flute Association, the Music Teacher's Association of California, the Santa Barbara Music Club, and the Santa Barbara Youth Symphony. She performs on a silver, gold, and platinum Miyazawa flute.
Clarinetist, Joanne Kim, has concertized as solo performer and chamber and orchestral musician in many parts of North America and Asia. Her performing career began in her late teens with the honorable Stamas Scholarship Fund from the New York Philharmonic offering her a new clarinet for her studies and concerts. She has performed with New York Soloist Ensemble, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Korean Chamber Orchestra, Astoria Symphony, New Jersey Philharmonic Orchestra, Chelsea Symphony, and the Santa Barbara Symphony. Concerts have led her to renowned venues including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Massey Hall, Glenn Gould Studio, Toronto Centre for the Arts, Roy Thompson Hall, and The Granada Theatre. She has also performed at colleges, conservatories and festivals including Royal Conservatory of Music, Mannes College, Columbia University, Manhattan School of Music, Queens College, Hunter College, Wilfred Laurier University, University of Western Ontario, Ball State University, New School University, Long Island University, Waterloo Windfest, and Centre d'arts Orford. Dr. Kim has earned Doctor of Musical Arts in clarinet performance at Manhattan School of Music with a fellowship under the tutelage of Mark Nuccio. Her Bachelor of Music was from Mannes College, and Master of Music degree with merit scholarship in the prestigious Orchestral Performance Program was from Manhattan School of Music. As a passionate educator, Dr. Kim travels to give lectures and classes while maintaining an active performance schedule. Dr. Kim performs with her husband, Han Soo Kim, a violinist, and is a member of the Sonos5winds, the wind quintet in residence at Westmont College. Dr. Kim is on the faculty at Westmont College, Westmont Academy for Young Artists, and InterHarmony International Music Festival.
A Santa Barbara native, Andrew started playing the saxophone at the age of 13. After being heavily influenced by his high school band director, Isaac Jenkins, he went on to study jazz performance at the University of North Texas and played in many of their prestigious Lab Bands. At UNT, Andrew studied with some of the best jazz educators in the business including Dan Haerle, James Riggs, Neil Slater, & Fred Hamilton. In August of 1999, Andrew decided to make Los Angeles his home where he performed in the bands of Engelbert Humperdinck, Sheena Easton, Jack Sheldon, Bob Florence, and Bill Holman to name a few. Andrew has also been lucky enough to perform beside some of the most talented musicians in the world including Pete Christlieb, Bobby Shew, Dan Higgins, Wayne Bergeron, Andy Martin, Rick Baptist, Sal Lozano, Doug Webb, and Kim Richmond. In September of 2008, Andrew returned to Santa Barbara where he currently teaches music at Santa Barbara City College, the Harmony Project by the New West Symphony, and Goleta Valley Junior High. Andrew currently performs across Southern California as a featured soloist, and with his current band “The Sax Collective”.
Paul Mori '77 first gained his reputation as a conductor with the Bach Ensemble of Baltimore in the 1990s. That chamber orchestra performed a wide-ranging repertoire, from Bach to Bartok, and was featured numerous times on the public radio station WBJC's prestigious "Music in Maryland" series. Dr. Mori went to Baltimore to study at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, earning a master's degree in bassoon performance with Phillip Kolker and later completing a doctorate in orchestral conducting, stuyding with the legendary Frederik Prausnitz. He has served as musical director of the Rainier Symphony (1996-2001) and as the music director of the Bainbridge Orchestra and the Rainier Youth Symphony. He has also appeared as guest conductor for various orchestras, including the Northwest Mahler Festival Orchestra and the Huntington Chamber Orchestra (a professional orchestra in West Virginia). Dr. Mori returned to Baltimore, the place of his musical roots, in December 2005 when he conducted a concert with the world-renown violinist Hilary Hahn and members of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. At Westmont he teaches bassoon, conducts the Wind Ensemble, and coaches chamber ensembles.
Adelle contributes to Santa Barbara's musical community as both teacher and performer. She teaches at Westmont College, maintains a private studio, and has taught at UCSB. Recent performing highlights include being a featured soloist in the Brandenburg Concertos for “Roanoque Baroque” (in Roanoke, VA), a soloist with the UCLA Symphony, and a concerto competition finalist at the Fresno Summer Orchestra Academy. With her Music Pedagogy degree from Wheaton Conservatory, Adelle helps bring music alive for her young students in both piano and oboe, and has designed a unique hands-on curriculum to introduce the core concepts of musical notation. She holds a Master's in Oboe Performance from UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music, where she is currently pursuing her doctoral studies.
Flutist Laura Walter has performed widely across the United States, and is an active adjudicator at prestigious competitions. Her students have gone on to successful careers as musicians, doctors, scientists and major symphony conductors. After studying flute, piano, and jazz extensively in the Midwest, she played with the Lexington Philharmonic (KY), Dayton Philharmonic (OH), Springfield Symphony (OH) and Richmond Symphony (IN). She then furthered her studies with Peter Lloyd of the London Symphony, and Kyril Magg of the Cincinnati Symphony. Her M.M was earned at the University of Kentucky, and she now performs with the Santa Barbara Symphony, Opera Santa Barbara, and other chamber groups in the Santa Barbara and Los Angeles area. Alry Publications has published several of her pieces for flute choir, and an etude book written to highlight difficult orchestral flute passages. She has taught at Wright State University, Miami Valley Music Academy, and been a featured guest lecturer at the Dayton Philharmonic. Ms. Walter has been on the faculty of Westmont College for over 20 years. She has recorded over a dozen CD’s with various artists, performed on the Today Show, and for Oprah, as well as with Henry Mancini, Doc Severinsen, Yanni, Steve Allen and others. Her solo album “The Nature of Nurture” has won critical acclaim. Recently she was featured on a recording of J.S. Bach’s Mass in B Minor with the Santa Barbara Master Chorale, and locally premiered “Cut Pieces” with Ursula Gallenkamp, performance artist. As a piccoloist in John Luther Adams’ ground breaking “Inuksuit” for 48 percussionists and 3 piccolos, she performed at the Ojai Music Festival, in a tree. Formerly the Executive Director of The Richards Institute of Education and Research, a non‐profit group, she continues working with teachers and children, especially at‐risk youth, using the experience of interactive play to develop motivation, intelligence, literacy, emotional stability and beauty. She is the regional coordinator of Education Through Music (ETM) and leads workshops for teachers to incorporate the arts into the current STEAM philosophy, integrating song, movement and play into daily activities for a more effective classroom. Traveling extensively in the summers, she continues working with young musicians across the US and Japan, at Fine Arts camps and workshops. A special interest in trauma has led her to the exploration of the uses of music and art in healing, creating empathy, and hope.