Santa Barbara Music Club Season Opening Concert

The Santa Barbara Music Club celebrates its fifty-seventh season of serving the greater Santa Barbara community with free monthly concerts, with a program on Saturday, November 14, 2026 at 3:00 pm at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 4575 Auhay Dr., Santa Barbara, featuring piano music, two- and four-hands. Natasha Kislenko will play Beethoven: a set of Bagatelles and the famous Für Elise as well as selections from Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons. The piano duo Tachell Gerbert and Bradley Gregory will play pieces by three women composers: Jane Savage, Marie Jaëll, and Amy Beach. This event is open to all with free admission, ample parking and easy access.

The Performers:

Natasha Kislenko, pianist, was born in Moscow, holds graduate degrees from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and Southern Methodist University (TX), and earned her DMA Degree from Stony Brook University (NY). She has concertized in Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, Turkey and the U. S., and has been prizewinner in piano competitions in both Europe and the U.S. Collaborative faculty member at the Music Academy of the West since 2004 and Principal Keyboard with the Santa Barbara Symphony since 2010, Dr. Kislenko is currently a Lecturer in the UCSB Department of Music.

 

Tachell Gerbert and Bradley Gregory, duo pianists, have reputations as both concert performers and teachers, and established their piano teaching studio in Thousand Oaks in 1986. Prizewinners in the Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation Competition, they are active members of the Music Teachers’ Association of California (MTAC). They each received BM Degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory and MM Degrees from UCSB, with emphasis in piano ensemble. While studying at UCSB with Dr. Wendell Nelson they were introduced to the music of Emma Lou Diemer, as the Variations: Homage to Ravel, Schönberg, and May Aufderheide was written for Dr. Nelson and his wife Marjorie. Tachell and Bradley have performed this work in Italy and Japan as well as in the U.S., and in 1996 gave the premiere performance of Diemer’s duo piano work, Norteamexispanicumsake, which was composed for them.

 

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://www.sbmusicclub.org.