Music

Grey Brothers , department chair, directs the Westmont Chamber Singers and teaches voice, music history, and church music. He has appeared as tenor soloist with area choral groups, has opened in local stage productions, and sings with the a cappella vocal ensemble Qualche Voce. His conducting posts have included a one-year appointment as guest conductor of University of California at Santa Barbara's early music chorus, Cappella Cordina, and his current position as choir director at Trinity Episcopal Church in Santa Barbara. A doctoral candidate in musicology at University of California at Santa Barbara, he is completing a dissertation on choral music of colonial Mexico.

Steve Butler is an ASCAP award-winning composer who teaches music theory, composition, orchestration, form and analysis, and computer technology in music at Westmont. He earned his doctor of musical arts degree in composition from the University of South Carolina and his works are published through Sunhawk Corporation in Seattle, Washington. Performances of his works have received funding from arts organizations such as the Esperia Foundation, the County Arts Council of Santa Barbara, the Contemporary Arts Forum, the Richard/Lexington County Arts Council, the South Carolina Arts Commission, as well as others. To view courses, class syllabi, or his list of works, go to: http://www.westmont.edu/departments/music/butler/docs/ CD recordings of his music, as well as excerpts, are available at http://www.mp3.com/SteveButler

Steven Hodson is the conductor of the College Choir and teaches piano, conducting, and music survey. He holds a doctor of musical arts degree in the literature and performance of choral music from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Dr. Hodson is president of the American Choral Directors Association's Western Division and past-president of California ACDA. From 1990 to 1996, Dr. Hodson was Director of Choral Activities at Modesto Junior College. He has directed honor choirs and adjudicated choir festivals in California, Oregon, Iowa, Wyoming, and Colorado. Dr. Hodson's webpages can be accessed at: http://www.westmont.edu/departments/music/hodson/docs/CChome.html.

Part-time Instructors

Glory Fisher is widely known as a pianist, teacher, accompanist, and Chamber Music performer. She has appeared as soloist with orchestras across the country, and has performed in many solo and chamber music concerts in the New York and Los Angeles areas. She has served as accompanist for the Robert Shaw Chorale, the Music Academy of the West, University of California at Santa Barbara, and for national competitions. She performed for many years with the Valley Quartet, the Bryerton Trio for Young Audience Programs, and was in charge of the chamber music program for the Center for Excellence in the Performing Arts for Bakersfield High Schools.

Matthew Greif teaches private and class guitar lessons at Westmont. Prior to his position at Westmont he served as a guitar instructor at Ventura College, California Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara City College. He is known for his various solo performances and performances with orchestras in France, Spain and the United States. Matthew's work can be heard on the recordings Permanent Transition on Metro Records, and Wild Mountain Thyme on Delos.

Rebecca Hodson teaches voice and conducts the Vox Lumina Women's Chorale. An alumnus of Westmont College, she holds a masters in choral conducting and vocal pedagogy from the University of Colorado, Boulder. From 1987-1990 Ms. Hodson served as minister of music at the First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley. Most recently previous to her work at Westmont, she was a music educator in the public schools where her choirs regularly earned top honors in festivals and competitions.

Christine Holvick currently teaches private harp lessons at Westmont College. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Harp Performance from the Conservatory of Music at the University of the Pacific. Christine has performed at restaurants, clubs, and hotels, in addition to holding the position of first Harpist with the Pacific Philharmonic for five seasons and actively performing in a flute and harp duo and the Sierra ensemble Chamber Quintet. Ms. Holvick recently completed her Masters Degree in Jazz Studies at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

Heather Levin holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara, is a member of the Music Teachers Association of California and teaches piano privately. She has accompanied many vocal and instrumental soloists and ensembles in Santa Brbara, including the Santa Barbara City College Theater Group, the Contemporary Music Theater of Santa Barbara, the Santa Barbara Grand Opera, the Gilbert and Sullivan Company, and the El Montecito Presbyterian Church Choir.

Deborah MacCallum teaches violin and viola both freelance and at Westmont. A student of Donald McInnes, she received her music degree from Santa Barbara City College, where she teaches an adult class. She also coaches chamber groups in local schools through the Santa Barbara Symphony program and maintains a private studio.

Serge Martinchuk is widely known as a piano performer and teacher. He earned his BM in Piano Performance at CSU, Los Angeles, and his MM in Piano Performance at UC Los Angeles. Mr. Martinchuk has been heard in performances of S.V. Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C-Minor, W.A. Mozart's Concerto K.415 and John Barnes Chance's "Introduction and Capriccio for Piano and 24 winds."

Ron McCarley director of the jazz ensembles, performs on saxophone, clarinet, western flute and various ethnic flutes. He received a master's degree at California Institue of the Arts while teaching elementary school and playing in Funk, Salsa and Swing bands. Currently, he enjoys performing with free jazz artists such as Vinnie Golia, Jeff Kaiser, The Gove County Philharmonic, and often appears in Santa Barbara with the Chris Judge Quartet.

Emily Sommermann teaches violin privately and at Westmont, serves as a freelance violinist, and plays with the S.B. Civic Light Opera. She received her master of music degree from the University of New York at Stony Brook, where she studied with Isidore Cohen of the Beaux Arts Trio.

Celeste Tevera is a winner of the National Metropolitan Opera Auditions NYC. She has sung with the New York City Opera, the Santa Barbara Grand Opera, the San Diego Opera, the Michigan Opera Theatre in solo concert performances with Jose Carreras, and with a number of symphonies throughout the United States and Europe. She has been teaching vocal technique freelance since 1984, and has contributed to programs such as the Yamaha Music Education Center, where she created a vocal program for the school and administered recitals and workshops for all ages.

Laura Walter teaches flute at Westmont and currently plays with the West Coast Symphony, Goleta Valley Chamber Orchestra and the Symphony of the Canyons. Laura received her Bachelor and Master of Music in flute performance from the University of Kentucky, where she played Baroque flute in the Collegium Musicum. Several of her arrangements for flute choir, written while she taught at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, are now being published. Many of her students have gone on to win top prizes in several national competitions.