| 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 35 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 and company debuts, including 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 both Calgary Opera and Utah Opera. She joined Tapestry New Opera in the 2010-2011 season for their unique ‘Lib/Lab’, ‘Opera Briefs’, ‘Tapestry Songbook’ and ‘New Opera Showcase’ projects and she looks forward in 2011-2012 to KINDERTOTENLIEDER with Quintet Pentaèdre at Barrie’s Colours of Music Festival, DAS LIED VON DER ERDE for NUMUS and Beckwith’s CRAZY TO KILL for Toronto Masque Theatre. 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. Ms Barber’s career has taken her to major opera houses throughout the world (Opéra de Paris, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Frankfurt Opera, 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. Kimberly Barber’s growing discography is crowned by 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 cameo performance in Le petit elfe by Florent Schmitt with colleagues Leslie De’Ath and Anya Alexeyev (duo piano) for Dutton Classics (2011), and the critically acclaimed L’accordéoniste, an eclectic selection of cabaret repertoire with Mary-Lou Vetere and Peter Tiefenbach (2009). She has also recorded for CBC Records: “Faustina Bordoni: Portrait of a Prima Donna” with Ensemble Arion, and for Naxos Records: the title role of Handel’s RINALDO with the Aradia Ensemble under the direction of conductor Kevin Mallon. She has been frequently heard in broadcast on CBC Radio, NPR, KING FM (Seattle), BBC Radio and SDR in Germany. 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 has since been presented at professional schools and university programs across the country. She gives masterclasses for emerging artists in both Canada and the US and has twice been on faculty at Opera NUOVA, an elite program for emerging operatic artists in Edmonton, Alberta. 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, where she coordinates the Opera Program. September2011
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 |