SBMC (S.B. Music Club) – Free Concert

The Santa Barbara Music Club celebrates its fifty-sixth season of serving the greater Santa Barbara community with free monthly concerts, Saturdays at 3:00.  Our concert, MUSIC FOR THE NEW YEAR, will be performed on January 10 at 3:00 at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 4575 Auhay Drive, Santa Barbara and will feature the world premiere of Sonata for Bassoon and Piano by Santa Barbara Music Club’s past president Eric Valinsky played by Alexandra Finch and the composer. Also on the program are Lucas Richman’s Concerto for Oboe:  the Clearing played by Adelle Rodkey and Eric Valinsky, and Carl Nielsen’s Quintet Opus 43, played by Carol Houchens, Adelle Rodkey, Nancy Mathison, Johann Trujillo, and Simon Knight, known as the Santa Barbara Chamber Players Woodwind Quintet. Admission is Free.

PROGRAM DETAILS

The program begins with Richman’s Concerto for Oboe: the Clearing which depicts a spiritual journey, using the text from Psalm 23 (“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want…”). The composer writes “The ‘clearing’ of the subtitle is the place in which the epiphany or spiritual reconnection occurs and is meaningful on several levels. The more common understanding of a ‘clearing’  on a physical level would be an open area one might reach after struggling  through a dense forest, while the term also suggests a purification of mind and spirit after having fought through the trials and obstacles with which we are faced in life.

Then follows Valinsky’s four movement Sonata for Bassoon and Piano, world premiere, of which he writes:

“To the extent that composers can consider their pieces as children, the Sonata for Bassoon and Piano was conceived in Florence, Italy in July, 1985 and was born later that year in New York. Composed in four movements, slow/fast/slow/ fast, it was structured like one of Vivaldi’s cello sonatas, Op. 14 and was originally scored for cello and piano. It was never performed and I recomposed it in 2025 for bassoon and piano. The fourth movement has a reference to Vivaldi’s Op. 3 No. 3, one that I later quoted outright in the “Summer” movement of Wisperfal. The passionate third movement is based on a chord progression that I heard when I was in sixth grade and stuck with me forever. The movement builds up to that chord progression, but it never happens. When I reached that point, I realized that the music needed to go somewhere else. This seems to be the case with my human children as well: they have forged their own lives, irrespective of my plans for them.”

The program concludes with the Santa Barbara Chamber Players Woodwind Quintet’s performance of Nielsen’s three movement Quintet Opus 43 for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn: Allegro ben Moderato, Menuet, Praeludium— Theme with Variations.

 

THE PERFORMERS

Alexandra Finch is a bassoonist based in Santa Barbara, California. She  studied at UCLA under John Steinmetz, where she developed a deep interest in chamber music and collaborative performance. Finch has performed with the California Youth Artist’s Symphony and participated in a variety of ensembles ranging from orchestral to contemporary chamber settings. Equally at home in standard repertoire and new works, she strives to bring versatility and attention to detail to every project. Finch is committed to fostering meaningful musical connections through performance and collaboration, both on stage and in rehearsal.

Carol Houchens, flutist, graduated with a BA in music from the University of California at Riverside. She continued her music studies at the University of Southern California, where she earned an MM degree in flute performance. For many years, Carol taught flute in the Music Department at UC Riverside, while playing in Riverside Symphony and San Bernardino Symphony. Carol moved back to the central coast to work at UC Santa Barbara, eventually retiring as the Director of Academic Administration. Presently, Carol serves as Principal Flute with the Santa Maria Philharmonic. In addition, she participates in various capacities with most other local orchestras, including the Santa Barbara Chamber Players, San Luis Obispo Symphony, SLO Opera, SLO Master Chorale, Lompoc Pops, and Symphony of the Vines.

Clarinetist Nancy Mathison grew up in Southern California and is a member of the New  West Symphony, Santa Barbara Chamber Players, Santa Maria Philharmonic, Symphony of the Vines, and the San Luis Obispo Master Chorale Orchestra. She has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Santa Barbara Symphony, Orchestra Novo, and the San Luis Obispo Symphony. She has also had the privilege of performing with Leonard Bernstein, the Houston Opera, American Ballet Theatre, Rudolf Nureyev Ballet, Andrea Bocelli, the Temptations, was a member of the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra, and played principal clarinet and reeds with the Santa Barbara Civic Light Opera for its 20-year tenure. Nancy attended the Music Academy of the West and received her degrees in clarinet performance from the University of Southern California (bachelor’s) and UCSB (master’s). She studied with Gary Foster, James Kanter, and Mitchell Lurie.

Oboist Adelle Rodkey 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.

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.

Johann Trujillo is a French horn player based in Santa Barbara, performing regularly with local ensembles such as the Santa Barbara Chamber Players, the Santa Barbara City College Symphony and Concert Band, the Ojai Pops Orchestra, and the Bottom-Line Brass. He is also a co-founder of the Los Padres Sound, a horn quartet that performs throughout the region from Goleta to Ojai.  Johann studied horn at UC Davis while pursuing a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, balancing his love for music with his professional career.

Simon Knight, bassoonist, holds an MBA from Warwick Business School (UK) and is an IT Executive. He studied bassoon under Kerry Camden, Professor of Bassoon at the Royal College of Music, and played with the Dartington College of Music orchestra and International Summer School. He is principal bassoon with the Santa Barbara Chamber Players and City College Symphony and plays with various local chamber music groups. He is a founder and treasurer of the Santa Barbara Chamber Players and Vice President of the Chamber Music Society of Santa Barbara. As well as classical music, Simon plays Uilleann pipes, and on saxophone, was a member of jazz fusion ensembles and the Dartington Big Band under the direction of experimental composer James Fulkerson.

This and all concerts offered by the Santa Barbara Music Club are open to the public with free admission. For more information about this concert as well as future and past concerts, see our website www.SBMusicClub.org.

The mission of the Santa Barbara Music Club is to contribute to the musical life of our community through the following:

1 Presentation of an annual series of concerts, free to the public, featuring outstanding performances by Performing Members and invited guests;

2 Presentation of community outreach activities, including bringing great music to residents of area retirement homes;

3 Aiding and encouraging musical education by the disbursement of scholarships to talented music students whose permanent address is in Santa Barbara County.

For more information about programs, to join or to donate, please visit our website, http://sbmusicclub.org.