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We are excited to continue our collaboration with the New York Women Composers. This month, we spotlight Julia Barry.
Julia Barry. Photo courtesy Julia Barry.
Excerpt from her bio:
“Julia Barry composes songs and scores for the stage and film/TV.
She is a composer and bookwriter at the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Advanced Songwriting and Bookwriting Workshops, and a recent recipient of grants from the NY Women Composers Foundation, Puffin West Foundation, The Pollination Project, and the Brooklyn Arts Council for her empathy-building arts project, “Habitat: Home.”
Barry found her love of creativity through music at an early age, improvising songs on piano and constantly singing around the house. She began formal study of piano (inspired by her older sister’s lessons) and joined a children’s choir during grade school, beginning to write more seriously as she got older. She studied music, poetry, and women’s media studies at Sarah Lawrence College, and went on to get her Masters Degree in Interactive Media at Goldsmiths College, University of London.
Barry is also a web designer for progressive causes and is passionate about the power of the internet and new media to promote community, the arts, and activism. Through UpRoot Design Studio, she uses illustration and green product design to further joyful engagement with climate action, and via Julia Barry Productions, she provides music and digital services for artists, educators, advocates, wellness practitioners, non-profit groups, and anyone putting goodness into the world.” – Composer’s website
Featured Work: “The Field”
COMPOSITION DETAILS
- Title: “The Field”
- Composer: Julia Barry
- Year of Composition: 2021
- Instrumentation: unaccompanied cello
- Movements: 1
- Duration of Work: 3’8″
- Number of Measures: 65
- Number of pages: 3
- Tempo: quarter note = 80
- Difficulty Level: Advanced/Professional
- Techniques Employed: bass, tenor, and treble clefs; arco and pizzicato; 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 5/8, and 7/8 time signatures; double and triple stops – including harmonics; harmonics
- Publisher: Self-published
- Where to Purchase the Score: Email Julia Barry
- Cost of Score*: $15
RECORDING:
This piece has never been publicly performed as of May 2022. Please get in touch if you perform and record this piece.
Program Notes
“The Field invokes the feeling of walking through a summer field, noticing all the wonder and bittersweetness our world can encapsulate in small moments such as this. The cello is a dynamic instrument capable of expressing great yearning and beauty; this piece can be played very freely, with personal interpretation that makes a particular player’s heart sing out.” – Julia Barry
Julia Barry’s Other Works with a Prominent Cello Part
- “Still, Close” (originally for trombone and piano)
- “7 Minutes from the Sun” (cello, piano, and tenor and alto soloists)
- “How to Love” (cello, piano, and four treble voices)
How to Contact Julia Barry
A Collaboration with the New York Women Composers (NYWC)
The NYWC series at the Cello Museum was created to showcase its members who have composed various pieces for cello, informing cellists seeking new music to add to their repertoire, and helping listeners find new favorites. Many thanks to the NYWC for this wonderful collaboration.
Read other installments in the series here.
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*Prices are accurate at the time of article publication, but the Cello Museum cannot take responsibility for subsequent price changes.
