Edhat Reader
By The Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation
The Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation is pleased to announce the selection of its board officers and directors for the 2023 season.
Established in 1982, the Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation provides financial aid to deserving vocal and instrumental students in Santa Barbara County. The annual competition encourages young musicians to strive for excellence and supports them in their growth as performers. Much like the organization and its mission, the foundation’s board of directors is steeped in legacy and deeply rooted in community.
This year’s board officers are Deborah Bertling, Dr. Marjorie Gies, Rosalind Amorteguy Fendon, Erin Bonski-Evans, and Peter G. Bertling. Deborah Bertling, a music teacher for more than two decades, will continue her stewardship of the board as president, a position she has held for the last 20 years. Dr. Gies, medical director at Casa Serena, will serve as vice president of the board, continuing her family’s legacy of support to the foundation and the performing arts.
Amorteguy Fendon, an independent design professional, is the board’s treasurer, and has been a board member since 1988. Bonski-Evans, minister of music at First Presbyterian Church since 2015, will serve as the board’s new secretary. Peter Bertling, an attorney and president of Bertling Law Group, is legal advisor to the board.
The foundation also welcomes the return of board directors Barbara H. Burger, Neil DiMaggio, Ronald D. Fendon, Noel Lucky-Ris, David T. McKee and Kristine Pacheco-Bernt. Burger is the former marketing director for the Santa Barbara Symphony and now a publicist for the State Street Ballet. DiMaggio is a professional pianist and a staff member at Westmont College. He benefitted from a foundation scholarship as a student.
A philanthropist and longtime supporter of PASF, Ronald D. Fendon is president of the Montecito Creek Water Co., and also serves on PASF’s finance committee. Lucky-Ris has a special connection to the organization. Her parents helped launch the foundation 40 years ago and she is continuing her family’s legacy by serving on the board.
Pacheco-Bernt is a professional violinist, arts administrator, and music educator at the Santa Barbara Symphony. McKee is a former associate dean of the College Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati.
Since its inception, PASF has helped hundreds of students achieve their performing arts goals through its competition award funds, as well as through encouragement awards to select students in the audition process. Scholarships are awarded primarily on the basis of talent and skill, but financial need is also considered.
The mission of PASF is to provide financial assistance to performing arts students and to support music educational outreach in the Santa Barbara community. Applicants range in age from 16 to 29 and compete for scholarships amounting to more than $27,000. Scholarship recipients say the competition provides a support system that has served as a bridge to their professional careers.
— For more information about PASF, visit pasfsb.org<https://pasfsb.org/p>.
