| Kimberly Barber |
Introduction "Barber (remember her superb Xerxes for the COC?) was particularly grand and poised, singing with vivid focus and finely sculptured phrasing…..absolutely sumptuous." Toronto Star, Geoff Chapman BiographyCanadian mezzo-soprano Kimberly Barber is known for the expressive power, purity and refinement of her voice, her elegance of phrasing and musical gesture and the intelligence and intensity of her physical portrayals. Her eclectic and varied career combines not only the standard repertoire sung on some of the great opera house and concert stages of the world, but also contemporary and baroque works with smaller, experimental companies. Kimberly Barber’s extraordinary artistic spirit defies categorization. Her operatic repertoire encompasses more than 30 roles, many of them from twentieth century or lesser-known works, and her concert repertoire stems from every genre. Ms. Barber’s most recent seasons held important role debuts. She gave the world premiere performance of MIDAREGAMI (Tangled Hair), a work commissioned for her and the Penderecki String Quartet by Canadian composer Veronika Krausas. Her first concert performances of Charlotte in Massenet’s WERTHER for Vancouver Opera garnered rave reviews, and she created the role of Jessica in the world premiere of John Estacio’s FROBISHER when she returned to Calgary Opera. Her critically acclaimed first turn as Sister Helen in Jake Heggie’s DEAD MAN WALKING in the Canadian premier of that work the previous season was broadcast on CBC’s Saturday Afternoon at the Opera. This was followed by her return to Seattle Opera, and first bows as Despina in COSI FAN FUTTE. Her performance as The Angel in Edward Elgar’s oratorio DREAM OF GERONTIUS, marked her debut with the Richard Eaton Singers and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, a role she repeated at the 2007 Elora Festival. Further engagements included a solo recital in Waterloo, Ontario, the title role in the Canadian premiere of Marc Blitztein’s REGINA for Pacific Opera Victoria, Ottavia in Monteverdi’s L’INCORONAZIONE DI POPPEA for Opera Atelier and Cecilia March in LITTLE WOMEN for Calgary Opera. She joins Tapestry New Opera Works early in the 2010-2011 season for their unique ‘Lib/Lab’ and ‘Opera Briefs’ projects. Kimberly Barber was born in Guelph, Ontario, but was soon spirited off to Toronto, where she grew up. Raised in a musical family, where singing was simply a part of life (but never considered a vocation), Ms Barber intended to follow in her father’s footsteps and study law. During her time as a student at Jarvis Collegiate Institute, however, she was encouraged by her high school music teacher with a scholarship to take voice lessons. She began her university career at Victoria College at the University of Toronto, but soon found her priorities lay with her voice studies, and at the end of her first year, was admitted to the Faculty of Music, where her vocal training began in earnest. Originally a soprano, Kimberly Barber soon came under the tutelage of Patricia Kern and began to study as a mezzo-soprano, a move that proved propitious. Ms. Barber graduated with honours from both the Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance and the Opera Diploma Programs at the University of Toronto. Her professional singing career began in 1985, when she was chosen as an apprentice with the Canadian Opera Company. Her Toronto mainstage debut as Kate Pinkerton in MADAMA BUTTERFLY was followed by first bows in Calgary (Hansel in HANSEL AND GRETEL) and Vancouver (Second Lady in THE MAGIC FLUTE, Alyeya in FROM THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD and Cherubino in THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO). A winner in the Regional Metropolitan Opera Auditions in 1988, she was encouraged with a Canada Council Career Development Grant to pursue performance opportunities abroad and soon established herself on the international scene. She garnered a position with the Frankfurt Opera in 1989, where she was first mezzo soloist for five years. There she appeared as Cherubino, Dorabella, Rosina, der Komponist in ARIADNE AUF NAXOS, Hermia in Britten's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, Annio in LA CLEMENZA DI TITO, Ramiro in LA FINTA GIARDINIERA and Nicklausse/Muse in LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN. Ms Barber’s career has since taken her to major opera houses throughout the world (Opéra de Paris, Lyric Opera of Chicago, New York City Opera, Seattle Opera, Opéra de Marseille, ENO, Canadian Opera Company, to name a few), where she is recognized for the verisimilitude of her portrayals of the trouser roles of Mozart, Handel, Rossini and Strauss. She is renowned for the intensity and depth of her interpretations of such roles as Strauss’s Composer, Handel’s Xerxes (for which she was nominated for Toronto’s Dora Award as Best Singing Actress), Ariodante and Nerone (AGRIPPINA), Cherubino and Annio (CLEMENZA DI TITO), as well as Samuel Barber’s Erika (VANESSA), and Ravel’s Concepciòn, among many others. She has collaborated with some of the world’s most innovative directors, including David Pountney, Christopher Alden, Tim Albery, Stephen Wadsworth, Peter Mussbach and Jonathan Miller; she has worked under the baton of such conductors as Seiji Ozawa, André Previn, Marc Minkowski, Armin Jordan, Myung Whun Chung, Gerard Schwarz and Yves Abel. On the concert stage she has performed with the London Symphony, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Mostly Mozart Orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall, the Minnesota Orchestra, Montréal’s I Musici, the Chicago, Montréal and Toronto Symphonies, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and New York’s Eos Orchestra in a wide repertoire ranging from Duruflé, Fauré and Mahler to Stravinsky, Argento and Bernstein. Her frequent collaborations with pianist Steven Blier and the New York Festival of Song, with performances at Wigmore Hall in London, Weill Hall, and the 92nd Street Y in New York, have shaped her interest in presenting art song in an accessible format. Her deep attention to text and musical interpretation are hallmarks of her performances as a recitalist. The undisputed highlight of Kimberly Barber’s concert career was the inauguration of a duo recital program with fellow mezzo-soprano, friend and mentor Frederica von Stade. The program, entitled “The Life of a Mezzo is ever so hard”, was performed to enormous critical and audience acclaim by the two mezzi, aided and abetted at the piano by Steven Blier of the New York Festival of Song, at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Maureen Forrester Recital Hall. Kimberly Barber has begun to amass a strong discography, beginning with her performance of Concepciòn in Ravel’s L’HEURE ESPAGNOLE for Deutsche Grammophon under André Previn leading the London Symphony Orchestra. Recent releases include her first solo recording for CBC Records, “Faustina Bordoni: Portrait of a Prima Donna” with Ensemble Arion, the title role of Handel’s RINALDO for Naxos Records with the Aradia Ensemble under the direction of conductor Kevin Mallon and the recently released L’Accordeoniste, an eclectic selection of cabaret repertoire with Mary Lou Vetere and Peter Tiefenbach. In addition to her busy performing schedule, Kimberly Barber is increasingly in demand as a guest lecturer, adjudicator, panellist and pedagogue. Her performance workshop "Finding your Individual Voice" was piloted at the University of Toronto’s Opera Division in March 2000 and subsequently presented at the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Glenn Gould Professional School, Wilfrid Laurier University, the Westben Festival in Campbellford, Ontario and York University. She has given masterclasses for the Victoria Chapter of NATS, Vancouver Opera Guild and the Vancouver Opera Chorus and recently presented a lecture demonstration for the ORMTA convention in Waterloo, Ontario. In the spring of 2005, Ms. Barber made her broadcasting debut for CBC Radio, as live colour commentator for the Montreal International Voice Competition. Kimberly Barber maintains a private voice studio and is Associate Professor of Voice at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. August 2010 For further information, please visit www.barber.de.
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Reviews“I got to know Barber through her touching portrayals of Handel heroes, whom she invests with vulnerability as well as nobility. So I am always floored by her equally brilliant gift for 20th century music, and the ease with which she slips into the skin, say, of a New Jersey gangster’s daughter. Her performance of Hosing the Furniture, with its volcanic rage simmering just beneath the comic surface, was a tour de force. But her most moving moment was the weightiest piece on the program: Sibelius’s compact, verbally understated saga of young love and betrayal, Flickan kom ifrån sin älsklins mote. Barber’s voice also soared thrillingly in the handful of duets on the program…one felt truly blessed to be, if only for a few hours, a Babe in Mezzoland.” (Duo program with Frederica von Stade) National Post – Tamara Bernstein“… Kimberly Barber has a graceful Mozart style with a core of steel that never belied her character’s feisty inner spirit. She instantly established Despina…” (Seattle, COSI FAN TUTTE) Opera Canada – Robert Jordan“The Charlotte of Kimberly Barber was another thing altogether, passionately committed to her role, she sang ably and brought pathos to the troubled woman pledged and then wed to another man. Her letter scene in particular was dramatically compelling and vivid and her vocal technique was all that one might have wanted—with no shirking of the risks to bring maximum dramatic impact.” Vancouver – J. H. Stape“In the role of Sister Helen, Kimberly Barber is outstanding, balancing gawky, self-assurance with a kind of radiant self-doubt that is quite touching.” Calgary Herald“ Kimberly Barber’s rich mezzo-soprano filled Olga with the passion of a leading lady…sang intricate rhythms and pitches that skipped all over the staff as if they were the simplest of tunes.” St. Paul Pioneer Press – Joan Oliver Goldsmith“ Kimberly Barber, in the title role, showing her mastery of the musical idiom right after her opening number.” ( Opera in Concert, RINALDO) Opera Canada – Wayne Gooding“Barber plumbed the opera’s moment of deepest humanity in a heart-wrenching performance of the famous aria ‘Cara sposa’- her voice alive with infinite tenderness and nobility, her face ravaged by grief.” National Post – Tamara Bernstein“Barber’s is a precisely honed voice which can instantly move listeners to laughter or tears. It’s plummy, ripe, sincere and whether very soft or belted out, always honest.” The Record – Colleen Johnson“Barber was luminous as Ariodante – her voice exhilaratingly free; her face transparently reflecting the Prince’s emotions.” National Post – Tamara Bernstein“Barber is a ‘trouser role’ veteran and here again nails a title role, particularly grand and poised, singing with vivid focus and finely sculptured phrasing.” The Toronto Star – Geoff Chapman“ Kimberly Barber sang with firm, luscious tone, her phrasing, style and decoration in the repeats, all outstanding.” Opera Canada – Peter Dyson“ Kimberly Barber’s noble and yet still vulnerable mezzo-soprano commanded the title role with tremendous power.” The Globe and Mail – Urjo Kareda“As XERXES, Kimberly Barber commanded plenty of firepower with an attractively even mezzo-soprano that rises to an impressive high register.” Seattle Times – Melinda Bargreen “…with mezzo Kimberly Barber, in the title role, showing her mastery of the musical idiom right from her opening number…her account of the lament ‘Cara sposa ‘was achingly languid and beautiful; her martial music was thrilling in the precision of its execution.” (RINALDO)Opera News – Wayne Gooding |