The Board of Santa Barbara Strings has appointed Santa Barbara County resident Kyle Abello as the organization’s first executive director.

The position will work with Mary Beth Woodruff, Santa Barbara Strings founder/artistic director, to fulfill the mission of providing quality training and education for young string musicians.

“We are so pleased to add Kyle Abello to our team at Santa Barbara Strings, and the addition of the position of ‘executive director reflects the incredibly healthy growth of our organization, now in its 16th year,” Woodruff said.

“Kyle is a masterful organizer, effective utilizer of local resources/networks and well-loved by our board of directors and parents of our young musicians,” she said.

Abello was raised in the Santa Ynez Valley, attended Santa Ynez High School, and graduated UC San Diego summa cum laude with a major in biology and minor in humanities.

He was the founder of the Buellton Recreation Department and served as recreation director for the city of Buellton for 20 years. In that role he helped to establish the Buellton Community Recreation Center, the Santa Ynez Valley Botanic Garden, PAWS Off-Leash Dog Park, and numerous community events and recreational programs that continue to benefit Buellton.

Abello has served on the boards of the Santa Ynez Valley Foundation, Santa Ynez Valley Chorale and Santa Ynez Valley Union High School District.

He currently serves on the College Elementary School District Board.

“Kyle has always loved classical music, especially the Baroque era, and he feels incredibly blessed to be able to serve in his new role with Santa Barbara Strings to support the next generation of musicians,” the organization said.

Abello lives in Santa Ynez with his wife Yana and their twins Skylar, who plays violin, and Tristan, who plays cello.

To contact Abello, e-mail sbstringsdirector@gmail.com.

Santa Barbara Strings is a nonprofit group providing comprehensive training for musicians, ages 4-19 years in three progressive levels of string orchestras and chamber ensembles.

 For more, visit www.santabarbarastrings.org.