FACULTY
Steve Hodson Takes a Bow
Music professor Steve Hodson has retired after teaching at ݮƵ for nearly 30 years. He appreciates the variety of roles he has filled: directing choral activities, conducting the ݮƵ College Choir, founding and leading the ensemble New Sounds, teaching a music survey class as well as basic and advanced conducting, and directing piano studies. “I especially value the extraordinary students who come to ݮƵ,” he says. “I’ve been privileged to work with a wide variety of fabulously wonderful individuals.”
Steve enjoyed conducting ensembles for years and more recently focused on teaching piano students one-on-one. “It’s such a joy to see individuals commit to the art and grow,” he says. “I’ve had some truly outstanding students who have brought me such joy.”
A master teacher, he has expertise in piano performance, arm-weight techniques and Bach’s and Chopin’s keyboard music. He also taught efficient and healthy physical movement at the keyboard and beauty of tone. “I sought to inspire, challenge and encourage piano students to pursue excellent technique, broad repertoire and deep understanding,” he says.
A fan of the piano music of Philip Glass and John Adams, Steve enjoyed guiding students through a wide variety of piano repertoire from early Baroque to contemporary music. Involvement in the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) enriched his teaching by connecting Steve with fellow professionals. Elected twice as president of the western region, he planned major events, including large conferences in Santa Barbara and Honolulu. He also serves as director emeritus of the Santa Barbara Master Chorale.
Steve has performed in the community as a pianist and organist, spending more than 15 years playing the organ at First United Methodist Church. His memorized repertoire includes several Beethoven sonatas, a Bach toccata, a Chopin ballade and all 24 Chopin preludes. He appeared as a Bach concerto soloist with the ݮƵ Orchestra and performed Bach’s “Concerto for Two Harpsichords and Strings.”
After graduating from Lewis and Clark College in Oregon with an emphasis in piano performance, he earned a master’s degree at the University of Oregon. He completed a Doctor of Musical Arts in the literature and performance of choral music at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where he accompanied the top graduate choir. An enthusiastic and seasoned accompanist/collaborator, Steve wrote part of his doctoral thesis on the art of accompanying.
Steve speaks proudly about his two children. Nathaniel majored in philosophy at UC Berkeley and completed a Master of Philosophy in theology at Oxford University. A Wheaton graduate, Katie spent six months with Filipino women who had escaped prostitution. She oversees a scholarship program at Point Loma Nazarene University for previously trafficked women.
This is a story from the Spring 2025 ݮƵ Magazine