Julie SImpson

Q. How did you first appear on-air at KDB?

A. About 15 years ago I wrote and recorded the ads for the Santa Barbara Oratorio Chorale. That's where I first met Bob Scott (KDB's Program Volunteer and former owner). We both sang with the Chorale and were on its board. And then KDB asked me to do some voice work for them, which I really enjoyed.

I had my eye on eventually recording the Cultural Calendar. And then, in 2002, Bob Scott asked if I would record the Cultural Calendar!  I did that for three years until I went to graduate school.  But I continued doing voice work for KDB from time to time, and that's how Tim Owens (KDB's General Manager) heard me and asked me to host on Sunday nights.

Q. When were you first exposed to music...

A. On the day I was born!  My mother played Beethoven sonatas on the piano, and my dad played show tunes.  We were a family of singers.

Q. ...and radio?

My dad was a semi-famous interior designer in Syracuse, NY, where he had a radio show on Saturday mornings, when my siblings and I were growing up.  He was like the Ann Landers of interior decorating: people wrote in with decorating dilemmas and he'd solve them.

Q. What are some favorite moments from your singing career?

A. When I was seven I co-wrote a hymn with my girlfriend from next door and we performed it in church.  That was my first big performance.  And when I was in college in New York state, Michael Tilson Thomas once conducted the choir I was in. That was a thrill of my life. And that's when he was young; he was a neophyte, a protégé.  But the biggest highlight recently was singing in my daughter's wedding.

Julie Simpson hosts classical music on KDB 93.7FM every Sunday from 9 pm to midnight. Listen to her on-air or streaming at www.KDB.com.