Heather Barnes
Heather Barnes, soprano, enjoys a performing a great diversity of repertoire. A regular guest artist with the Montana Early Music festival and a frequent soloist for the Helena Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Barnes’ performance highlights include Igor Stravinsky’s Three Japanese Lyrics, Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, J.S. Bach’s Magnificat, the graphic scores of Earle Brown, and the musical chance poems of Jackson Mac Low. Especially important to Ms.Barnes is contemporary music and the relationship between performers and their contemporary composers. In 2009, Ms. Barnes worked with composer Lynn Petersen to premiere her song cycle Patterned for Thee with Ballet Montana.
Ms. Barnes has dedicated herself to bringing music to the community. This has included performances as part of the Gluck Outreach, Orlando Public Library, and Encinitas Library concert series. In 2012 she worked with Carroll College, the Myrna Loy Center, and artist Natalia Hayes on the Helena Pierrot Project, a lecture performance of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire celebrating the piece’s 100th anniversary.
As part of her educational work, Ms. Barnes has given masterclasses and workshops in contemporary music, chamber music, and composition readings at Boston Conservatory, the University of Florida, the University of South Florida, the University of California San Diego, and the University of Montana. She is an instructor at Carroll College and has also taught at the University of Montana and the University of Montana Helena College. She has adjudicated for various music festivals and competitions, including the University of Montana Concerto Aria Competition.
Ms. Barnes holds a bachelor of music in vocal performance from the University of Toronto, where she studied with Mary Morrison; she also holds a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Montana, where she studied with Dr. Kimberly Gratland James.
