Featured Performers

Jill Felber
Ensemble for Contemporary Music — Wednesday, April 22
Jill Felber

Jill Felber, flute, has been hailed for her “beautifully finished performances” by The Detroit News and has been praised by Musical America for her “handsome performance.” Jill Felber has performed solo recitals, chamber music, and concertos on four continents and has held residencies in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, Mexico, France, Switzerland, Great Britain and the United States. An enthusiastic promoter of new music, Ms. Felber has inspired many composers to write solo and chamber works for her and is currently engaged in many commissioning projects. She has premiered over three hundred works for the flute and has released world premiere recordings for Centaur Records, CRI and Neuma Records. Holding degrees from the University of Michigan and Bowling Green State University, Ms. Felber has taught on the faculties of Ohio University, Capital University and Wright State University. She is currently Principal Flute with the Santa Barbara Grand Opera and Professor of Flute at UCSB.

Beverly Brossmann
Ensemble for Contemporary Music — Wednesday, April 22
Beverly Brossmann

Beverly Brossmann is currently a master’s student at the University of Santa Barbara, California studying with Jill Felber. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Puget Sound, where she studied with Karla Flygare and was the recipient of the Endowed Music Scholarship as well as the 2005 winner of the Concerto/Aria Contest. In 2008, Beverly created several flute meditation albums for Adventures in Mastery, LLC (AIM), and the CD is soon to be released. She won the NFA Masterclass Competition with a performance at the National Flute Convention in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2007. Beverly has participated in numerous master classes around the world with teachers including Bonita Boyd, Marianne Gedigian, Amy Porter, Christina Jennings and Carol Wincenc. Beverly’s future goals include pursuing her doctorate degree, continuing teaching and performing, experimenting with music and healing, and starting a band with her sisters in Seattle.

Margaret Halbig
Ensemble for Contemporary Music — Wednesday, April 22
Margaret Halbig

Margaret Halbig earned a Bachelor of Music in piano performance at the University of Evansville in Evansville, Indiana, where she studied piano with Anne Hastings Fiedler as well as percussion, organ, and harpsichord. In 2003, she moved to Kansas City and earned a Master of Music degree in piano performance, studying with Robert Weirich at the University of Missouri Kansas City Conservatory. While at the Conservatory, she accompanied the Graduate Chamber Choir, the Conservatory Chorale, Canticum Novum, and the Symphonic Choir. She also served as accompanist at St. Matthew Apostle Catholic Church as well as the Kansas City Ballet.

In 2005, Margaret moved to Lawrence, Kansas, and began studying with Robert Koenig toward work on a Doctor of Musical Arts in piano with emphasis in chamber music at the University of Kansas. At KU, Margaret played for numerous graduate and undergraduate recitals, orchestra concerts, opera scenes and productions, as well as advanced ballet classes. She was also a graduate teaching assistant for the piano department, teaching class piano as well as private piano. In the fall of 2007, Margaret moved to Santa Barbara to continue studying with Robert Koenig and is currently finishing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Calisa Hildebrand
Ensemble for Contemporary Music — Wednesday, April 22
Calisa Hildebrand

Calisa Hildebrand is pursuing a Master of Music degree at UCSB where she studies with Jill Felber. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree from Cal State Long Beach, where she studied with Dr. John Barcellona and was principal flute of the Symphony Orchestra, Wind Symphony and University Wind Quintet. Calisa has performed in master classes with Carol Wincenc, Thomas Robertello, and Trevor Wye. At UCSB, she performs with the ECM (Ensemble for Contemporary Music). As a freelance musician, Calisa has performed in various venues across Southern California. She has most recently played with the Del Lago Trio and is looking forward to having more performance opportunities with her newly formed piano trio. Calisa also maintains an active flute studio in both the Santa Barbara and Long Beach areas.

Kathryn Mendenhall
Ensemble for Contemporary Music — Wednesday, April 22
Kate Mendenhall

A Santa Barbara native, Kathryn Mendenhall began her musical studies at the Waldorf School and continued with local cellist Jacqueline Greenshields. In addition to solo recitals given across Southern California and New York, she has performed with festivals and chamber ensembles in Italy, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Korea, and Indonesia. An avid supporter of new music, Kathryn was a long-time member of the Illustrious Theatre Orchestra, a composer-performer ensemble dedicated solely to the performance of modern and new works. From 2006 through 2008 she served as Associate Principal Cellist for the Young Musicians’ Foundation Debut Orchestra. She has received music awards from the American String Teachers’ Association and the Santa Barbara Music Club and awards in physics from the Dan Black Foundation and the Eiker-Adams Foundation for creativity in physics. Over the years, Kathryn has studied with Ben Hong, Burton Kaplan, Bongshin Ko, John Saint’Ambrogio, Giana Abondolo, and Andrew Smith. She holds degrees in both Music Performance and Physics from Cal State University, Fullerton.

Annie Thompson
Ensemble for Contemporary Music — Wednesday, April 22

Annie Thompson is currently in the Masters program in Vocal Performance at UCSB, studying with Benjamin Brecher. She most recently performed the role of Corilla Sartinecchi in Donizetti’s Viva la Mamma! with the UCSB Opera Theater. Annie received her BFA at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee where she also performed the roles of Elizabeth Proctor in Robert Ward’s The Crucible, Mother in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, and La Ciesca in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. Annie has also performed a variety of musical theater roles, appearing in productions of Aida (title role), Footloose (Rusty), Man of La Mancha (Aldonza), and Beauty in the Beast (Madame de la grande Booche). Annie’s musical interests lie in the verismo repertoire of the late Romantic/early 20th-century and the songs of Benjamin Britten.

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