Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation

Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation Non-profit organization assisting young musicians in Santa Barbara County. Dedicated volunteers provide all administrative responsibilities.

To do the greatest good with its funds, PASF devotes its entire resources to performing arts recipients.

PASF Invests $56,000 to Fuel Music Education The Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation (PASF), a nonprofit dedicated to...
08/19/2026

PASF Invests $56,000 to Fuel Music Education

The Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation (PASF), a nonprofit dedicated to providing financial assistance to performing arts students and backing music educational outreach organizations within the Santa Barbara community, today announced it has awarded $56,000 in community grants to nine local arts organizations. The funding will directly support a diverse mix of year-round academies, seasonal camps, and targeted outreach programs designed to foster musical growth, accessibility, and appreciation for instrumental and vocal music among youth across Santa Barbara County.
“We believe there is an urgent, mission-driven obligation to invest in music education today to ensure future generations can enjoy high-caliber professional music,” said Deborah Bertling, PASF Board President. “Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we are in a position to award these grants, supporting foundational music education at the grassroots level and nurturing promising local talent.”

This summer, PASF scholarship recipient Chloe Silva devoted herself to piano, culminating in her acceptance to the Inter...
08/10/2026

This summer, PASF scholarship recipient Chloe Silva devoted herself to piano, culminating in her acceptance to the International Music Seminar in Japan (partnered with the Munich International Music Academy), where she studied intensively with Professor Antti Siirala. She prepared with "boot camp" lessons from her teacher Dr. Natasha Kislenko before traveling to Japan, where Ms. Akiko Takesh*ta helped refine her repertoire ahead of the seminar. The experience included insightful masterclasses, inspiring lectures, and the chance to connect with talented young musicians from around the world, closing with a memorable final concert in a 2,000-seat symphony hall.

Chloe expresses deep gratitude to the donors for making this opportunity possible through the PASF scholarship, and commits to continuing her hard work with the goal of one day inspiring other young musicians the way her own teachers have inspired her.

Junior Instrumentalist second place winner Seungyoo Kim-Jung participated in the inaugural High School Intensive at the ...
07/30/2026

Junior Instrumentalist second place winner Seungyoo Kim-Jung participated in the inaugural High School Intensive at the Music Academy of the West. The newly launched program brought together exceptional young musicians, ages 14–18, from across the United States for two weeks of intensive study, chamber music, orchestra, and performances with the Academy's distinguished teaching artists.

Seungyoo especially enjoyed collaborating with talented peers from around the country and performing chamber music under the guidance of the Academy's outstanding faculty. It was an inspiring and rewarding experience. Music Academy

Some of the most meaningful moments in this year's competition didn't happen on stage. They happened in the voice studio...
06/24/2026

Some of the most meaningful moments in this year's competition didn't happen on stage. They happened in the voice studio, months before the final.

Two of this year's vocal finalists studied with teachers who once stood where their students stood: as PASF competitors themselves.

Brett Mutinelli competed at PASF four times between 1989 and 1992, placing 2nd in 1990 and 3rd in 1989, 1991, and 1992. She went on to earn her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance at UCSB and founded the Young Singers Club in Santa Barbara in 1998, a comprehensive voice and performance program she has run ever since. Her student Nikki Seppala Kurnik won 1st place in the 2026 Junior Vocal Division.

Agatha Carubia, now a voice teacher in Santa Barbara, competed at PASF four times between 1983 and 1987, placing 2nd in both 1983 and 1984, 4th in 1985, and 3rd in 1987. Her student Amelia Checketts placed 2nd in the 2026 Junior Vocal Division.

That's the kind of continuity this foundation was built for. Not just scholarships, but a chain of mentorship passing from one generation of musicians to the next.

Former competitors becoming teachers. Former students becoming the inspiration for new ones.

PASF has been part of Santa Barbara's musical life for decades. This is what that looks like in practice.

To our board, our donors, our supporters.The 2026 PASF Music Competition happened because of you.Every scholarship award...
06/04/2026

To our board, our donors, our supporters.

The 2026 PASF Music Competition happened because of you.

Every scholarship awarded, every student who stood on that stage, every moment of music that filled Lehman Hall this April 26 traces back to the people and organizations who believe in what this foundation does.

To our board members who give their time and expertise. To our individual donors and corporate supporters who fund these scholarships year after year. To the teachers, families, and community partners who help young musicians find their way to us.

Thank you. Truly.

$21,000 in scholarships were awarded this year to ten remarkable finalists. That money changes things: lessons continued, instruments upgraded, summer programs attended, futures expanded.

None of it happens without you.



Deborah Marks Bertling Erin Bonski Edie Baily DeVine Peter Bertling Noel Lucky Kristine Pacheco

Annabelle Zhang | Piano, Age 12Honorable Mention | Adult Instrumental DivisionCongratulations, Annabelle.She is twelve y...
05/28/2026

Annabelle Zhang | Piano, Age 12
Honorable Mention | Adult Instrumental Division

Congratulations, Annabelle.

She is twelve years old and competing in the adult division. That alone deserves a moment.

Annabelle won 1st place in the PASF Junior Instrumental Division last April, which advanced her to compete at the senior level this year. She has been earning awards consistently since 2021, and the pace has not slowed: a MTAC win this past fall, 1st place at the So Cal Junior Bach Festival this winter. She studies with Vera Kong and attends Laguna Blanca School.

Honorable Mention in the adult division at twelve. We look forward to what comes next.

Congratulations, Annabelle.

Skylar Abello | Violin, Age 11Honorable Mention | Junior Instrumental DivisionCongratulations, Skylar.She has been playi...
05/27/2026

Skylar Abello | Violin, Age 11
Honorable Mention | Junior Instrumental Division

Congratulations, Skylar.

She has been playing violin since she was four years old. That's seven years of lessons, recitals, and growth for a student who is only eleven. Skylar lives in the Santa Ynez Valley, attends Trivium Charter School, and studies with Mary Beth Woodruff of Santa Barbara Strings. After earning Honorable Mention at PASF last year, she put those funds toward a new violin, upgrading from the ½ size she had been performing on to a ¾ violin. She then accomplished the 40-hour challenge of rehearsal hours over the summer.

She is growing into a more formidable violinists.

This summer she heads to the LA Suzuki Institute. We have a feeling this will not be her last time on this stage.

Congratulations, Skylar.

Leon Guo | Piano, Age 17Honorable Mention | Junior Instrumental DivisionCongratulations, Leon.Eleven years of piano, a s...
05/26/2026

Leon Guo | Piano, Age 17
Honorable Mention | Junior Instrumental Division

Congratulations, Leon.

Eleven years of piano, a string of MTAC awards since 2022, five years of SBMC scholarships, and a return to the PASF finals after earning Honorable Mention in 2024. Leon studies with Lana Bodnar and has been building something consistent and real. He also found time this spring to be part of Dos Pueblos High School's mock trial team, which just claimed its fifth consecutive County 1st prize. This fall he heads to UCLA.

Leon is the kind of student who shows up in multiple rooms and makes a difference in all of them.

Congratulations, Leon!

Noelle Hadsall | Piano, Age 172nd Place | Adult Instrumental DivisionCongratulations, Noelle.Noelle has been playing pia...
05/26/2026

Noelle Hadsall | Piano, Age 17
2nd Place | Adult Instrumental Division

Congratulations, Noelle.

Noelle has been playing piano since she was five and her record of achievement runs long: the SB Bach Festival, the Paderewski Festival Cultural Exchange Tour in Poland, 1st place in the Paderewski Festival Piano Competition, and 1st place in the PASF Junior Instrumental Division in 2021, the win that placed her in the adult division today. She studies with Pascal Salomon and is VP of the Jazz Choir at Dos Pueblos High School.

Noelle also teaches piano at YouthMuze, the Santa Barbara nonprofit founded by former PASF competitor and pianist Grace Hu that provides free music instruction and tutoring by teen musicians to young students across the area.

Grace Hu founded YouthMuze to make music education free and accessible.

Noelle is now one of the people making that happen.

That is exactly the kind of legacy this foundation exists to build.

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