About the Artist

Young Debbie was bored.  She wanted to play something different.  She told her piano teacher, “I wanna play some rock.”  Her teacher didn’t give her rock music to play, but she did take her on a new musical journey.  She taught her to read a lead sheet.  Debbie took that new skill and used it to do what she really wanted - play John Denver, Elton John, the Beatles, Carole King.  Debbie listened to her favorite songs and learned to work out the chords.  This opened up a whole new musical world for Debbie.  She could play the clubs on Saturday night and play the organ in church the next morning!

 

Debbie’s piano teacher, Mary Beth Bleak Thompson, taught piano during the school year and gave organ classes during summer breaks.  Debbie became a pianist, a church organist, and a club musician all because of Mary.

 

Debbie studied with Mary Thompson from age 9 until high school graduation in 1974.  Mary kicked Debbie out of her studio then and told her to go study with Alex Molnar at Fresno City College.  Debbie obediently did so, and in 1979, Debbie graduated from Fresno City College with an Associate of Science in Nursing and an Associate of Arts in Music.

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Shortly thereafter, Debbie married and traveled the world with her Air Force husband, raising a family along the way.  Her husband is a singer and guitarist, so naturally they played the Air Force club circuit in Germany and Belgium.  They played swanky clubs and private parties in Texas.  They played the VFW’s and fraternal lodges in North Dakota and Ohio.  Debbie was also involved in “legit” music, playing church organ in Germany & Belgium, and singing with the Skylarks in Germany.

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In 1994, her husband retired from the Air Force and they settled in San Antonio, Texas.  Debbie worked as a nurse and as a freelance accompanist, and filled the post of Accompanist at Holy Trinity Presbyterian Church for twenty years, playing piano and organ, accompanying the Sanctuary Choir and various other groups and soloists, and providing keyboard & vocals with Jubilation, the praise band.  Notably, the Music Minister organized a community-wide choir and orchestra and presented the major work, Hymns Triumphant by Lee Holdridge, for which Debbie was organist.

 

In San Antonio Debbie accompanied middle and high school choirs and accompanied voice students from middle school to university level.  She found time to teach music at Holy Trinity Day School, and had a few piano students.  When a friend needed a liver transplant, Debbie and her husband provided live music for a silent auction.  Debbie also recruited members of the Theta Gamma chapter of SAI to give a recital to raise funds for her friend’s liver transplant.

 

Debbie and her husband have played some interesting places.  With their band “Lonesome Dove,” they opened for Pirates of the Mississippi at a County Fair in Minot, North Dakota.  With their band “RCR” they played Arneson River Theater and Retama Park Horse Racetrack in San Antonio.  As the duo “Oz” they even played the dance hall in Lukenbach Texas.

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In 2014, they moved to Tucson, Arizona, where Debbie fulfilled her lifelong dream of earning a BM (Bachelor of Music) in Piano Performance at University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music, studying with Rex Woods and Nino Bakradze.  Debbie accompanied several UA choirs, and played in several ensembles, notably Schubert’s "Trout" Quintet, Mozart’s G Minor Piano Quartet, Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals, and Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite.

 

Debbie is a rehearsal accompanist for Tucson Girls' Chorus, seasonal choir accompanist for Desert Hope Lutheran Church, accompanist for City Psalms Choir, and occasional substitute church pianist/organist.

 

Debbie is the proud mother of three children who have grown into amazing, awesome adult human beings.  She is the doting grandmother of an adorable toddler.  She is a member of Sigma Alpha Iota (a women’s professional music fraternity), NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness), Mama Dragons (a group of mothers who celebrate our LGBTQIAP children and breathe fire on anyone who would cause them harm), and Free Mom Hugs (a group of mothers who hug LGBT+ children of all ages at Pride).  When she isn't practicing, she enjoys cycling, hiking, photography, and simply hanging out at home with her husband, cats and dogs, and that adorable little toddler.