The Santa Barbara Symphony Announces Kristine Pacheco-Bernt as New Director of Music Education
Kristine holds a Master’s degree in violin performance and dual Bachelor degrees in Music and Premedical Studies.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz
The Santa Barbara Symphony has announced Kristine Pacheco-Bernt as its new Director of Music Education. Each year, the Symphony provides over 10,000 children in Santa Barbara County with high quality, equal-access music education through its Music Education Center: a continuum of connected programs designed to support and engage students at every step along their musical journey by fostering collaboration, confidence, and community, while empowering them to be at their best through music. While all programming has gone virtual in response to the pandemic, through partnerships and generous community support, the Music Education Center is moving ahead and looking towards next season.
"During this unprecedented time, the disparities in education are becoming more apparent, and our mission to provide music education to the community is more important now than it has ever been," shared Pacheco-Bernt. "As we navigate this new learning environment together with our students, the Symphony is leveraging the collective talents of our incredible teaching staff to sustain and strengthen the bonds with our students and families through an investment in, and use of, technology."
Pacheco-Bernt is a professional violinist, arts administrator, and music educator motivated to make instrumental music relevant within the community. Raised at the intersection of mariachi and Mozart, she draws upon over a decade of performing and teaching experience. She strongly believes in the power of creative youth development through music and is proud to bring her perspective and skills to the non-profit arts sector.
Prior to her work at the Santa Barbara Symphony, Pacheco-Bernt served as a Teaching Artist at the Incredible Children's Art Network (iCAN) music program, an El Sistema-inspired initiative in Santa Barbara providing free after-school music classes and academic enrichment to 120 elementary school children from an underserved community. She currently maintains a private violin studio designed to support students at all levels of musical development. Fully convinced to continue in music education, she feels privileged to be a member of the Symphony in many roles: Teaching Artist, substitute musician, and now Director of Education. She enjoys bringing together school administrators, families, and music professionals to create dynamic music education programs.
Kristine holds a Master's degree in violin performance from San Francisco State University and dual Bachelor degrees in Music and Premedical Studies from the University of California Berkeley. She performs regularly throughout the central coast with the San Luis Obispo Symphony, the Santa Barbara Symphony, and the Santa Maria Philharmonic. She devotes her spare time to playing board games with her husband and spoiling her pug, Hilda.
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