|  Jennifer
Margaret Barker's compositions have been hailed by critics as
"at once gripping and timeless", "beautiful...warm",
"haunting", "toe-tapping",
and her compositional output has been noted for its "amazing
array". As conductor Mark U. Reimer states in her 'Nyvaigs'
CD liner notes, "...Barker is a musical pilgrim on a
completely original path. In her music, one hears the passion
and strength of her Celtic heritage, yet the colors are fresh
and her style engaging."
Barker has received commissions and performances from most notably
The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra with the St. Louis Children's
Choirs, The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra with the New Jersey
Youth Chorus, The Virginia Symphony with The Virginia Children's
Chorus, The Fort Collins Symphony, Relâche, Network for
New Music, The Society for New Music, Trio Arundel, The Bearsden
Choir with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra Brass and Percussion
Ensembles, The Scottish Chamber Orchestra String Quartet, The
Scottish Chamber Orchestra String Trio, The Holywell Ensemble,
Marimolin, The Children's Chorus of Maryland, and The Bay
Youth Symphony, as well as numerous international concert artists.
She was invited to compose a work for The 2002 American Liszt
Society National Conference, and her compositional work is featured
on the Distant Voices Touring Theatre 'September Echoes'
production. Her works have been performed in China, Australia,
Sweden, The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, The Czech Republic
and Slovenia, as well as in the United Kingdom (Scotland, England
and Wales) and the United States.
Published by Theodore Presser, Vanderbeek & Imrie Ltd. and
Southern Percussion, Barker has received multiple broadcasts of
her compositions on American public radio and the BBC. In reviewing
her 'Geenyoch' CD, freelance critic Jon Conrad noted that Barker's
music "sounds familiar and yet always new. While speaking
in her own distinctive compositional voice, it answers the emotional
and visceral needs that music has always met". Conrad
also notes Barker's ability to "incorporate thrilling
new sounds", and that "there is always a gratifying
curve and arch to her vocal and instrumental phrases, as well
as in the shaping and pacing of whole movements". Further
recordings of her compositions include a CD of chamber works titled
'Nyvaigs', recorded by Andreas Meyer and released in April 2000
on the CRI label (CRI CD 862), and the chamber arrangement of
her composition 'Nollaig' (for children's chorus and symphony
orchestra), released by the Virginia Children's Chorus on their
2005 'Golden Thread' CD.
In addition to ASCAP awards and varying international awards,
Barker has received grants from organizations such as The National
Endowment for the Arts, the Pew Charitable Trust, the American
Composers Forum, the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Norfolk
(USA) Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the Meir Rimon Commissioning
Assistance Grant, the Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour, the
Philadelphia Music Project and The Scottish Arts Council. Her
most recent award is an Established Fellowship from the Delaware
Division of the Arts for the year 2007.
Barker is an Associate Professor of Music Theory/Composition at
the University of Delaware. She is Chair of New Music Delaware
and Co-Artistic Director/Founder of Still Breathing:
The University of Delaware Contemporary Music Ensemble. As a William
Penn Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, she received the
Ph.D. and Masters degrees in music composition. She received two
Masters degrees in piano performance and music composition respectively
from Syracuse University, and an Honors Bachelor of Music degree
from the University of Glasgow in Scotland. Born and raised in
Scotland, Barker has lived in America since 1987. In addition
to composing, she remains active as a pianist.
Recent Reviews
"The ensemble concluded the evening with a performance of
Jennifer Barker's 'sair wrocht wi lilt'...that
was anything but passive...Combining contemporary classical
structure with material in the Scottish folk tradition, 'sair
wrocht wi lilt' came blazingly alive, with lovely, aching
melodies that evoked not only Barker's homeland but Americana
as well...Heavily percussive (...including the performers'
bodies as instruments), the piece turned literally into a dance
when Bob Butryn set his clarinet down for a show-stopping, superbly
executed tap dance. I was reminded of film director John Ford's
wonderful, country dance set pieces, and also of the fact that
the "avant garde" need not be unapproachable...".
Variously Indeterminate; 'Signal to Noise' Journal, issue
#48, winter 2008, - review of performance of sair wrocht wi
lilt by Relâche, Wilmington Music School, DE, Saturday
22nd September 2007.
"Orr then went on to play a much more modern work by Jennifer
Margaret Barker. It...took full advantage of the basically
percussive nature of the modern piano. There were echoes of Carl
Orff, Shostakovich, Copland, and even Mahler, to be heard throughout
the piece. But in the end, it was clearly Barker's own."
New Music Society program premieres work by Rollin; by
Jerry Stephens, Youngstown Vindicator, Friday 23rd February, 2007
- review of performance of Geenyoch Ballant by Dr. Kevin
Robert Orr, Bliss Recital Hall, Youngstown State University, OH,
Wednesday 21st February 2007.
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