Joan La Barbara

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Joan La Barbara
Birth nameJoan Linda Lotz
Also known asJoan La Barbara
Born (1947-06-08) June 8, 1947 (age 78)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres Avant-garde, Classical, Vocal
Occupation(s)Vocalist, composer, actress, educator
Instrument(s)Vocals, electronics
Years active1971–present
LabelsWizard, Chiaroscuro, Nonesuch, New Albion, Lovely Music, Mode, New World
Website joanlabarbara.com

Joan Linda Lotz La Barbara (born June 8, 1947) is an American vocalist and composer known for her explorations of non-conventional or "extended" vocal techniques. [1] [ full citation needed ] Considered to be a vocal virtuoso in the field of contemporary music, [2] she is credited with advancing a new vocabulary of vocal sounds including trills, whispers, cries, sighs, inhaled tones, and multiphonics (singing two or more pitches simultaneously).

Contents

Biography

An influential figure in experimental music, La Barbara was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is a classically trained singer who studied with soprano Helen Boatwright at Syracuse University, Phyllis Curtin at Tanglewood/Berkshire Music School and contralto Marion Szekeley Freschl at the Juilliard School in New York. [3]

Joan La Barbara's early creative work (early to mid 1970s) focuses on experimentation and investigation of vocal sound as raw sonic material, including works that explore varied timbres on a single pitch,"circular singing" inhaled and exhaled singing inspired by horn players' circular breathing techniques, and multiphonic or chordal singing [i.e. double-stops for the voice]. In the mid 1970s, she began creating more structured compositional works, some of which include electronics and layered voice sounds. [4]

She has accumulated a large repertoire of vocal works by 20th-and 21st-century music masters, including many pieces composed especially for her voice. [5] She has performed and recorded works by composers including John Cage, Robert Ashley, Morton Feldman, Philip Glass, Larry Austin, Peter Gordon, Alvin Lucier, and her husband Morton Subotnick, and has collaborated with choreographers Merce Cunningham, Jane Comfort, Nai-Ni Chen and poet Kenneth Goldsmith.

In 2004, she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in Music Composition. [6] She also received a Foundation for Contemporary Arts John Cage Award (2016). [7]

La Barbara is a guest instructor at HB Studio. [8]

Other work

Joan La Barbara has also done work acting and composing for television, film, and dance. She composed and performed the music for the Sesame Street animated segment Signing Alphabet, for electronics and voice, and has composed a variety of chamber, orchestral, and choral works. She also appears in Matthew Barney’s 2014 film River of Fundament . La Barbara is currently on the music composition artist faculty at New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions, and on the faculty of Mannes/The New School/College of Performing Arts.

Discography

La Barbara works

See also

Sources

  1. ↑ Harvard music dictionary.
  2. ↑ Pool, Jeannie G. (January 1979). "America's Women Composers: Up from the Footnotes". Music Educators Journal. 65 (5): 35. doi:10.2307/3395571. JSTOR   3395571. Joan La Barbara, a major innovator in her use of voice in both live and taped electronic works.
  3. ↑ Sanders, Linda; Sweet, Michelle C. (1994). "La Barbara, Joan" . In Sadie, Julie Ann; Samuel, Rhian (eds.). The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers. W. W. Norton. pp. 259–260. ISBN   0-393-03487-9.
  4. ↑ Reynolds, Simon (July 2016). "Joan La Barbara, Voice Is The Original Instrument + Tapesongs review". The Wire. Retrieved October 26, 2018– via reynoldsretro.blogspot.com.
  5. ↑ Goldsmith, Kenneth. Joan La Barbara: Composer as Performer from “Don’t Quit Your Day Job”, New Music Box/American Music Center, 2000.
  6. ↑ "Video: At Home with Composers Morton Subotnick and Joan La Barbara". Q2 Music. WQXR. April 16, 2013. Archived from the original on August 27, 2024. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
  7. ↑ "Joan La Barbara". Foundation for Contemporary Arts. Archived from the original on April 20, 2018. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Joan la Barbara". HB Studio. Archived from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.

Further reading

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