Music Active Ensemble Directors
Westmont Ensemble Directors
Andrea Di Maggio has been praised for her “stellar playing and social grace” by the Santa Barbara Independent and is in demand as both a teacher and performer in the Santa Barbara area. Andrea graduated from San Jose State University, summa cum laude, with a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Performance where she studied with Paris Conservatory French flutist, Isabelle Chapuis. She was granted a teaching position at Arizona State University, and while completing her first year of graduate school, taught private lessons to undergraduate flute majors, implemented and taught a flute course to music education students, and performed in faculty recitals. Andrea transferred to the University of California, Santa Barbara, to complete her Masters Degree, studying with Jill Felber. Andrea has been the winner of performance awards from the Santa Barbara Foundation, the Santa Barbara Music Club, the Leni Fe Bland Foundation, the Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation, and the Music Teachers National Association. She has performed in masterclasses with Robert Stallman, Tadeo Coehlo, Marianne Gedigian, Michel Debost, and Jill Felber.
Westmont College adjunct flute professor since 2012, Andrea has implemented a flute choir and woodwinds chamber music program at Westmont College, which is open to all serious flute students, as well as other wind players. These ensembles are regularly featured in department recitals and perform throughout the academic year. Additionally she serves as the recruiter for the Winds/Brass departments and loves to work with Music and College Admissions to find excellent new students for the Westmont Music Program. Andrea regularly performs in Westmont faculty recitals, as well as ensembles in the south coast community; she is a regular participant in the concert series for the Santa Barbara Music Club and is a frequent substitute player for the Santa Barbara Symphony.
Alongside her college teaching, Andrea maintains a competitive private flute studio and is the flute section coach for the Santa Barbara Youth Symphony. Her students have won performance awards from the Santa Barbara Music Club, The Music Teachers Association of California, the National Flute Association, the Santa Barbara Youth Symphony, the Honors Performance Society, the Spotlight Awards, and the Los Angeles Youth Philharmonic - in addition to placements in college music programs. Known for her holistic, creative, and nurturing approach to flute teaching, Andrea’s students are from all ages and stages of life - each one is encouraged to pursue the highest standards for playing and to find his/her unique path to success. Andrea performs on a silver Miyazawa Boston Classic flute with gold and platinum headjoint.
Eben Drost is a pastoral musician serving in both the Music Department and Campus Pastor’s Office at Westmont. His primary instrument is piano, and he has a background in jazz, classical, and popular music. He studied music at Westmont (’11) and earned a Masters in Theology at Fuller Seminary (’18).
Growing up in Redlands, California, Eben studied piano and counted Beethoven as his hero. In high school, he formed a jazz combo which came to be known as “Eben Flow.” Throughout his younger years, he played keyboard and guitar in various bands, of various genres and levels of notoriety in their local contexts.
Since graduating from college, Eben’s primary musical context has been the worshipping church. He served as an organist and choir accompanist at Trinity Lutheran Church (Santa Barbara), the Worship Director at Shoreline Community Church (Santa Barbara) and Missio Community Church (Pasadena), and was part of the team that planned and led worship at Fuller Seminary’s chapel services for two years. He played keyboard for the Urbana 18 Worship Team, which led over eleven thousand college students in worship, and served as the band’s music director. Their live album, “Faithful Witness,” can be found on all major platforms for streaming and purchasing music. He currently serves as the Worship Team Director at Westmont, teaches a course called “Music in the Worshipping Church,” and will begin leading the Jazz Ensemble in the Fall of 2020.
Eben met his wife Megann while they were students at Westmont, through their mutual friend (and now Music Department faculty member) Daniel Gee. They married in 2013, and live in Carpinteria with their golden retriever, Ollie.
Paul Mori '77 first gained his reputation as a conductor with the Bach Ensemble of Baltimore in the 1990s. That chamber orchestra performed a wide-ranging repertoire, from Bach to Bartok, and was featured numerous times on the public radio station WBJC's prestigious "Music in Maryland" series. Dr. Mori went to Baltimore to study at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, earning a master's degree in bassoon performance with Phillip Kolker and later completing a doctorate in orchestral conducting, stuyding with the legendary Frederik Prausnitz. He has served as musical director of the Rainier Symphony (1996-2001) and as the music director of the Bainbridge Orchestra and the Rainier Youth Symphony. He has also appeared as guest conductor for various orchestras, including the Northwest Mahler Festival Orchestra and the Huntington Chamber Orchestra (a professional orchestra in West Virginia). Dr. Mori returned to Baltimore, the place of his musical roots, in December 2005 when he conducted a concert with the world-renown violinist Hilary Hahn and members of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. At Westmont he teaches bassoon, conducts the Wind Ensemble, and coaches chamber ensembles.