Biography
Julie Lyn Barber is an avid performer, teacher and theatre artisan. Originally from Carleton Place, Ontario, Canada, her career has taken her to a variety of cities throughout the United States and Canada. Her diverse background includes numerous theatrical roles with such companies as Portland Center Stage, Northwest Classical Theater Company and Vancouver B.C.'s Theatre Under the Stars. She has toured with the Portland Opera Association and Oregon's Angeltime Productions, a satirical comedy troupe for whom she also wrote sketches and song parodies.
She has appeared as a soloist with a number of ensembles, including Portland Oregon’s early music ensemble,
Trinity Consort, under the direction of Eric Milnes. She served as Stage Director for
Early Music Muncie’s inaugural production of
Dido and Aeneas, and the 2008
Bloomington Early Music Festival's educational outreach production about Scarlatti's "Tigrane." She has performed with guitarist Paul Reilly at the
Ball State University Chamber Music Festival and in recitals at
High Street United Methodist Church of Muncie,
Taylor University, and in Louisville, Ken
tucky.
In 2008 and 2011 she was a finalist in the
Bel Canto Regional Artist Competition. She has won many awards for acting and received an
Astral Career Grant from the
National Association for the Advancement of the Arts to attend the
Vancouver Baroque Vocal Institute, where she studied early music performance practice with Ellen Hargis, Ray Nurse, Margret Gries, Doreen Oke and Steven Adby.
Her most recent play,
Down That Road Again, was selected for the
Q Artistry Playwright's Festival in Indianapolis. In 2011, she received an
Individual Artist Project grant from the
Indiana Arts Comission to write two new panto-style children's plays, and was the winner of the
Indiana Humanities Council "Food for Thought" story contest. Her plays were selected for production with the juried festival,
DivaFest in Indianapolis in 2010
(Madwomen's Late Nite Cabaret) and 2011 (
Tamlane). She often writes for
Classical Singer Magazine.
Her recordings include Musical Theatre Studio cast recordings, live recordings of concerts, as well as choral and solo work for
Oregon Catholic Press.A much sought-after choral singer, Ms. Barber has sung with numerous church and special event choirs, including Portland‘s
Trinity Chamber Choir and
Dayton Opera. She has served as conductor for the early music choral ensemble,
The Planet Earth Consort, a satellite group of Muncie Indiana's
Planet Earth Singers, with whom she served as Assistant Conductor to Dr. Douglas Amman.
Her extensive ballet training contributes to her grace and poise onstage, as well as informing her skills in Baroque dance and physical comedy. It also serves her well in her offstage role as choreographer for musical theatre productions, including
Cats, Godspell, Big River, and
Nunsense Ah Men!.
She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Arts degree in vocal performance at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. She earned her Master of Music degree in Opera and Music Theater from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, after studying music in Canada at the University of Western Ontario in London, and the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, earning a Bachelor of Music in Music Education.
She is the Director Music Ministries at the First Presbyterian Church of Winchester, IN is an Instructor of Voice at Taylor University in Upland, IN, where she recently music directed the Music and Theatre Departments’ collaborative production of A Christmas Carol and choreographed the Opera, The Magic Flute.