Bio
Catherine Barnes (b. 1986) is an up-and-coming young percussionist rapidly establishing herself as an adept performer of classical, contemporary, and world music. A recent graduate of Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Music degree in percussion performance, she has performed regularly with the university’s wind ensemble, symphony orchestra, and percussion ensemble for the past four years. Noteworthy performances include an NU percussion ensemble feature concert at the 2007 Percussive Arts Society International Convention ( PASIC ), two performances in downtown Chicago’s famous Millennium Park with the NU percussion ensemble in 2007 and with the NU brass ensemble in 2008, and a solo performance with the NU percussion ensemble in May 2008. She was also a member of the 2005 Waa-Mu show orchestra. Her teachers at Northwestern have included Michael Burritt , James Ross , Paul Wertico , and Ruben Alvarez .
Catherine has also performed with the NU Contemporary Music Ensemble and has commissioned and premiered two works by composer Megan Grace Beugger: Conversations for violin and timpani, which she premiered with violinist Ari Streisfeld , and Changing Tensions, a series of five pieces for solo timpani, both of which are reflections of her passionate commitment to expanding the repertoire for timpani outside of the orchestra. In addition, she is a member of a consortium lead by the Quey Percussion Duo for a new percussion duet by composer Dave Hollinden.
Catherine is also an avid performer and student of the music of Africa and the African diaspora. In 2007, she received an Undergraduate Research Grant from Northwestern University to spend eleven weeks in southeastern Ghana studying perceptions of time in the traditional music and culture of the Anlo-Ewe society. She presented her research at the NU Undergraduate Research Symposium this spring to rave reviews from faculty and students alike. She was also the vice-president of the NU African Drum and Dance Ensemble. Catherine also has a strong interest in the music of Brazil and has studied the pandeiro, or Brazilian tambourine, with Geraldo de Oliveira.
This fall, Catherine will travel to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on a Fulbright scholarship to study the percussion instruments and rhythms typically Brazilian with Lucas Ciavatta . She will return to the United States in June of 2009.
Check out these videos from my senior recital:
(and if you like them, there are more of them on YouTube )Songs I - IX by Stuart Saunders Smith
Meu Caro Amigo by Francis Hime and Chico Buarque