Noise Actor

Noise Actor (sourced on Snappa.com, November 2025) I’ve been working on a Directed Study with a grad student, and they are exploring extended techniques in a big way. We started riffing on what that expression “extended techniques” really means, and...

Mind Over Matter

It’s All in Your Head (sourced on Snappa.com, Nov. 2025) Two incidents this week formed the theme for this post: my daughter’s 30th birthday project to run 30 km (shout-out Alice: she did it!) and the struggle and work of my students preparing for this...

When Self meets Voice

Thank you for the music program (Hannah Piercey, Priya Khatri, July 2025) There’s something magical that happens when artists come together, hearts full and open to their audience, bravely showing themselves in their entirety. Such was my experience this past...

Return to Self

Selfhood and voice as the path towards it have been the overarching theme of this blog since I started writing in 2019. My preoccupation with this topic has permeated my own artistic practice, my research and my work with students for many years now–probably for...

Naomi for the win!

Naomi and Lucy at Laurier’s Ken Murray Competition, January 25, 2025 Barber Studio student Naomi Schlegel (class of 2025) was the first prize winner of Laurier’s Ken Murray Concerto Competition for 2025, giving an outstanding performance of the Doll Song...