Circular Song, Solitary Journeys of the Mind, and Windows
Joan La Barbara

Musician and composer Joan La Barbara will perform Circular Song (1974), Solitary Journeys of the Mind (2009) and Windows (2013). Circular Song is one of La Barbara’s earliest works, focussing on “circular singing” (ingressive/egressive vocalising). It is clearly a process piece as well as one influenced by conceptual art. Solitary Journeys of the Mind explores real-time composition, while Windows is part of an opera in progress, inspired by the works and dream fragments of sculptor Joseph Cornell, as well as the flow of Virginia Woolf’s writings and the curvilinear architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright and Antoni Gaudì.

JOAN LA BARBARA
Composer/performer Joan La Barbara is renowned for her unique vocabulary of experimental and extended vocal techniques (her “signature sounds” include multiphonics, circular singing, ululation, and glottal clicks), which have influenced generations of composers and singers. Awards and prizes include Premio Internazionale “Demetrio Stratos”; Civitella Ranieri, Guggenheim and 7 NEA Fellowships; numerous commissions for chamber ensembles, theatre, orchestra, chorus, interactive technology and soundscores for dance, video and film including an electronic/vocal score for Sesame Street. La Barbara teaches music composition at NYU and is currently composing a new opera. joanlabarbara.com