Resident Fellows

Patricia Barber || Fall 2007

Patricia Barber is a jazz singer and pianist based in Chicago. The New York Times has called her piano playing “adventurous” and her voice “a low-vibrato alto on perpetual rhythm and timbre alert.” She combines a remarkable vocal range with piano playing that is at one turn moody, at the next charged with layers of complex rhythms. Her style has been called intelligent and insouciant; Time Magazine has described her persona as a cross between Diana Krall and Susan Sontag.

Ms. Barber’s ninth and most recent recording Mythologies, is an 11-song cycle based on The Metamorphoses of Ovid. “Ovid was a Roman poet who was putting a spin on Greek mythology,” says Barber. “I just couldn’t believe what a wonderful writer he was—how funny and smart and brilliant are these characters he created. He doesn’t flesh them out so I can understand why opera composers and librettists throughout history have used Ovid again and again.” Howard Reich of The Chicago Tribune has called Mythologies “potentially revelatory,” adding that “Barber brilliantly has found the means to re-imagine a piece of literature for a jazz context…The expressive range of this music proves thrilling.”

For close to 15 years, Ms. Barber has led her own band, appearing regularly in venues throughout the United States and Europe and building an international following. She holds a Masters of Music from Northwestern University and a BA in Music and Psychology from the University of Iowa. She has taught voice at Northwestern University and now gives master classes. She was also the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2003.

Patricia Barber will be in residence in the Department of Music in Fall 2007. She will participate in Professor Melford’s upper-division performance workshop course, “Current Trends in Jazz and Improvisation-Based Musics.” She will also lead a master class on jazz singing to voice students in the department. Ms. Barber will also perform in concert in Cal Performances’ 2007-2008 season. Plans are also in development for a composition workshop or colloquium and an event featuring Ms. Barber’s poetry and solo singing and including some discussion.

Patricia Barber’s website is patriciabarber.com. Details about Ms. Barber’s activities on campus will be made available through the Department of Music and Cal Performances.