Biography

Canadian 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 career has 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, Japan's Seito Keinan Festival, ENO, Canadian Opera, 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.

On the concert stage she has performed under the baton of Seiji Ozawa as La Ciesca in GIANNI SCHICCHI, with the London Symphony under André Previn, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia with Myung Whun Chung, the Mostly Mozart Orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall under Gerard Schwarz, the Minnesota Orchestra, Montréal's I Musici under the direction of Yuli Turofsky, the Chicago, Montréal and Toronto Symphonies and the St. Paul Chamber 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 kicked off her 2009-10 season in grand style, joining legendary colleague, mezzo Frederica von Stade for duets with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, as she began her Farewell Concert Tour. Immediately afterward, she was a featured soloist in the opening concert of NUMUS in Waterloo, Ontario, a "collage cabaret" entitled Phenomenological Love Songs, which also starred virtuoso trumpeter Guy Few, bassoonist Nadina Mackie Jackson and the Penderecki String Quartet. Ms Barber's newly-formed L'Accordéoniste will be guest artists in the 2009 Canwest Cabaret Festival at Toronto'sYoung Centre in October 2009, after which Ms Barber returns to Vancouver Opera in November for the 50^th anniversary gala of the company, alongside colleagues Tracy Dahl, Brett Polegato and Kathleen Brett. Following numerous recital engagements across the country from November through February, Kimberly Barber will make her role debut as Cecilia March in the hotly anticipated Canadian premiere of Mark Adamo's LITTLE WOMEN for Calgary Opera in 2010.

Ms Barber's recent seasons have held important role debuts. In April 2009 she debuted as Ottavia in Monteverdi's L'INCORONAZIONE DI POPPEA with Toronto's Opera Atelier, and took a highly acclaimed first turn in the title role of Marc Blitzstein's REGINA with Pacific Opera Victoria in April 2008. She garnered great praise for her first Charlotte in Massenet's WERTHER with Vancouver Opera, and created the role of Jessica in the world premiere of John Estacio's FROBISHER for Calgary Opera. Her critically lauded Sister Helen in Jake Heggie's DEAD MAN WALKING was a feature of the Canadian premiere of that work for Calgary Opera, performances of which were broadcast on CBC's Saturday Afternoon at the Opera. This was followed by her return to Seattle Opera, and first bows as Despina in Jonathan Miller's acclaimed production of COSI FAN TUTTE. She gave her first performances of the role of The Angel in Edward Elgar's oratorio DREAM OF GERONTIUS, with the Richard Eaton Singers in Edmonton, a work which signaled her debut with the Elora Festival in the summer of 2007. She was the featured soloist with the Penderecki String Quartet in the world premiere of MIDAREGAMI by Veronika Krausas for the 2007 Open Ears Festival. An indisputable career highlight 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's strong discography begins with her 1987 performance as Sister Sophia alongside the Maria of Frederica von Stade and Mother Superior of Eileen Farrell in Telarc's recording of THE SOUND OF MUSIC. Her 1985 recording of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Aaron Kernis's AMERICAN (DAY) DREAMS earned accolades from San Francisco Chronicle critic Joshua Kusman, who said "Kernis' melodies, sung with unnerving purity by mezzo-soprano Kimberly Barber, will rip your heart". Her Concepciòn in Ravel's L'HEURE ESPAGNOLE for Deutsche Grammophon earned rave reviews internationally. Her solo recording for CBC Records, Faustina Bordoni: Portrait of a Prima Donna was released in the autumn of 2005 and her performance of the title role of Handel's RINALDO for Naxos Records, with the Aradia Ensemble under the direction of conductor Kevin Mallon, was released in January 2006. Her latest recording, L'Accordeoniste, introduces her new ensemble by the same name, featuring Pianist Peter Tiefenbach and Accordionist Mary-Lou Vetere in an eclectic tour de force program of German and French cabaret, Neapolitan songs and tangos. They are joined by virtuoso improvisational specialists Violinist Julie Baumgartel, Cellist Paul Pulford and Percussionist Carol Bauman--together this group forms the New Berlin Ensemble.

Kimberly Barber's professional singing career began in 1985, when she was chosen as an apprentice with the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble. 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 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, garnering a position as first mezzo soloist with the Frankfurt Opera . 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.

In addition to her busy performing schedule, Kimberly Barber is increasingly in demand as a guest lecturer, panellist and pedagogue in both Canada and the US. She has taught master classes at the University of Toronto, the Glenn Gould Professional School, the Victoria Chapter of NATS, Vancouver Opera Guild, Opera Nuova, Canadian Operatic Arts Academy, University of Manitoba, Elora Festival Academy and York University. Kimberly Barber's performance workshop "Finding Your Individual Voice" was piloted in March 2000 and has been subsequently presented at educational institutions across the country. In 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 has been Associate Professor of Voice at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario since July of 2002, where she also acts as Administrative Coordinator of the Opera Program.