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The American cunter-tenor, Terry Barber, began private study in the arts at the age of seven, and has been involved in the entertainment industry since that time. Hae obtained his Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance as well as a Musical Theater Certificate and Music Technology Certificate from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois (1991-1995). A role was created with his extreme vocal range in mind for the musical A Robin Hood Tale, by Lawrence Rush and Kathy Phillis. He performed in Hello Dolly at Lincolnshire Theatre of Chicago, and was also a recipient of the Winthrop Bean Theater Award. He obtained his Master of Music degree in historically informed performance from London’s Trinity College of Music, where he also received a post-graduate performance certificate with highest distinction (1995-1997). Immediately following the completion of his degree, he was hired to teach advanced vocal ensembles at Trinity College, while simultaneously touring England with the Kent Opera. Later he studied Nonprofit Leadership & Management certificate course at Duke University (2012)
Terry Barber made his New York City Opera debut in 2001 in Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria and covered Daniel Taylor in the NYC Opera’s production of George Frideric Handel’s Rinaldo starring David Daniels. In summer of 2002 he performed at the International Spoleto Festival in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. Recent highlights include his debut performance at Carnegie Hall singing the role of Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus with the National Chorale under Martin Josman (New Year’s Eve 2004); with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in a tour of Europe; with the Portland Baroque Orchestra in G.F. Handel’s Messiah under the direction of Nicholas Kraemer; and with the New Trinity Baroque Orchestra of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater (with Evelyn Tubb) which prompted the Atlanta Journal Constitution to rave that “…his grasp of the texts and elegant phrasing made for charismatic singing” and “Barber has star quality”.
With an extraordinarily broad vocal range and natural fluency in many musical styles, Terry Barber has been featured on some of the world’s most storied stages and has worked with many of the music industry’s most prestigious figures. He has worked under the baton of many of the world’s most accomplished conductors including Armiliato, Gustav Leonhardt, Christophe Rousset, Andrew Parrott, Roger Norrington, Nicholas Kraemer, Grant Llewellyn, Harry Bicket, and Michael Tilson Thomas and joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera for their staging of Sly, starring Plácido Domingo.
In recent years, the focus of Terry Barber's career has been more than 150 international solo tour performances. The first and only counter-tenor ever to be booked in the “Live on Stage” network, he was a favorite with almost 50 bookings throughout the USA in the 2013-2014 season. His solo tours began with, “A Sacred Journey”, a history of western sacred music in song. Offering Gregorian chant, sacred favorites from major composers and ending with a spiritual and modern recognizable songs, the tour has had over 50 performances throughout the USA and raised thousands of dollars for community improvement programs. Mr. Barber’s tours were selected by the Department of Culture, and approved by the Senate, to represent the state of Florida for their touring roster. His current programs include, “The Many Voices of Terry Barber”; an entertaining exploration through light musical theater, classical, and popular works, “Around the World in 80 Minutes”; unique arrangements by Emmy and Grammy-winning composers of the world’s favorite melodies in 10 languages (with songs like Danny Boy, Besame Mucho, La Vie En Rose, Bridge Over Troubled Water) “The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber” - with hits from ten of his most beloved shows, and “The Christmas Presence”, a holiday program of classics, classical, and popular favorites.
At home in various styles, Terry Barber was recognized by three-time Grammy Award winners, Chanticleer. In 1998 he completed a year-long tour with Chanticleer at more than a hundred concerts around the globe, where he performed and recorded gospel, jazz, folk music in 12 languages, opera, and classical music ranging from Gregorian chant to contemporary repertoire . He was called by the press “...the jewel in Chanticleer’s crown...” when he was the featured soloist on Chanticleer's Mexican Baroque tour.
Following incredible success at Moscow’s Svetlanov Hall for the international “Art-November” festival, Terry Barber was asked to entertain at the Russian Embassy in Washington D.C. for the 20th anniversary of Tretyakov Arts Magazine. A recognized language expert, he was the only entertainer asked to sing in Russian at the Library of Congress to celebrate poet, Mikhael Lermontov.
A voting member of the Grammy Awards, and on the advisory committee for Nelly’s X’treme Recording Institute, Terry Barber's voice has appeared on every major record label, with Grammy-winning artists like Chanticleer, Madonna, Jewel, Chaka Khan, Cyndi Lauper, Steve Smith, and many more. Whether performing classical or popular favorites, he “breathes new life into everything he sings” and crafts what the Los Angeles Times calls “performances of great vitality and verve.” His most recent recording project, "Christmas Presence", was released in late 2015. It was produced by seventeen-time Grammy-winning “classical producer of the year” Steven Epstein (who produced albums for Wynton Marsalis, Plácido Domingo, Bobby McFerrin, Yo-Yo Ma, and Idina Menzel) and includes the hit duet, “Christmas Once More,” featuring opera star Denyce Graves. His recent CD releases include featured solos on Karl Jenkins, AdiemusV, released by EMI as well as Dido and Aeneas for New Trinity Baroque. He has recorded two tracks on the Buddah-Bar chill-out series, Living Theater Vol. 2 and 3. Dj Tracy Young's remix of Terry's vocal for “The World Is A Stage” has been listed in the top 10 world-wide by various Djs. He is a soloist on Crossing the Stone, released by Sony Classical and featured as classical album of the week in the UK. Dorian's release, The Jesuit Operas, includes Barber in the role of Japan. He recorded "Reflections" with Chanticleer for Warner. He also recorded "Jewel's Chrismas" album for Columbia Records.
In 2009, Terry Barber founded Artist for a Cause Inc., a non-profit which helps visual and performing artists to use their talent for community improvement. His personal work with the organization includes the aforementioned “A Sacred Journey” tour program as well as “Classical for Schools” which will impact more than 10,000 students this year throughout the USA and Canada through a performance lecture and generic drugs, challenging their notions about what is possible with the human voice, and recognizing the importance of arts education and a classical foundation within the arts. |
