Workshop 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 30 roles, many of them from twentieth century or lesser-known works, and her concert repertoire stems from every genre.

It is these qualities as a performer, combined with her many years of experience as a professional performing artist, her excellent communication skills, enthusiasm and sensitivity to the needs of young singers, as well as a firm grasp of vocal technique, which give Kimberly Barber unique teaching strengths. "Finding Your Individual Voice" was a project that grew out of early career development talks Ms Barber gave for the COC Ensemble and the University of Toronto and was piloted at the University of Toronto's Opera Division in March 2000. This workshop has since been presented twice to the students at the Opera Division, as well as at the Royal Conservatory of Music's Glenn Gould Professional School, Wilfrid Laurier University, York University, the Westben Festival in Campbellford, Ontario and for Vancouver Opera's VOCE program.

Kimberly Barber is increasingly in demand as a guest lecturer, panellist and pedagogue. In the summer of 2004, she presented a Lecture-Demonstration at the ORMTA Convention in Waterloo, Ontario, entitled "Holistic Singing: Engaging Mind and Body in Vocal Pedagogy". In February 2005 she gave a master class revolving around the theme of the travesti genre for the Vancouver Opera Guild called "Call me Mister: Defining the Trouser Role" a master class she subsequently repeated in February 2006 for the Victoria Chapter of NATS. Resonance for this class was so positive that she was invited to present a workshop to the Vancouver Opera Chorus in September 2005, combining both elements of basic stagecraft and teamwork, as well as artistic exploration, and following that, an audition workshop for the same group in September 2006. In the spring of 2007, she was the Ambassador Teacher at Opera Nuova, a premiere young artist's training program in Edmonton, Alberta, where she taught daily studio master classes, gave career development advice and taught a voice studio of 18 students. Most recently, in the spring and summer of 2009, Ms. Barber was voice instructor at the inaugural Canadian Operatic Arts Academy in London, Ontario as well as at the first Elora Festival Academy alongside colleagues Leslie De'Ath and Daniel Lichti. She was also the featured commentator for CBC Radio's In Performance broadcasts of the finals of the 2005 Montreal International Voice Competition and is frequently asked to be an adjudicator for festivals and competitions in both Canada and the US.

Kimberly Barber is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Music at Wilfrid Laurier University where she has taught since 2002, and acts as Administrative Coordinator of the Opera Program. She also maintains a private voice studio.