We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jasmine Arielle Barnes a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jasmine Arielle, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I started my career as a vocalist. I attended Morgan State University in Baltimore Maryland in pursuit of my bachelor’s degree focusing on vocal performance, specifically classical singing. I was so sure of a vocal career in opera, being casted in my first role at the age of 19, even though I literally started training in the same age. Opera was it in my mind and there was no chance of it changing, until… I had a voice injury. For any singer, a voice injury is devastating, but for Opera singers it could mean the end of a career. Where other genres lean into rasp and other vocal textures of the voice, opera avoids completely. It’s all about purity of the voice and I was suddenly unable to produce that quality of sound.
In my time of silence, I started writing music, as a therapeutic solution. I fell in love with composing and once I recovered from my voice injury, I marked composition as my “back up plan”, still determined to make a name for myself as a vocalist.
I struggled for a while with believing I could sing the way I once did for the remainder of my degree pursuit. Once I switched voice teachers and started studying with Marquita Lister, our main focus was building confidence in my voice and unlearning bad technique. Even with this, my focus started to shift towards composition. I decided to get my master’s degree in composition, and I studied with James Lee iii. While pursuing my masters , I still had a blossoming vocal career and the first thing I noticed , was how I didn’t fit into the field the way I thought I would. I’m a Black Plus Sized Soprano, and at the time, there were very few roles I could fit into with that. My mind went straight into creating space for people like me. So composition moved completely to the forefront, not because I didn’t think I could do it as a singer, I just wanted to make change from a different side. For sure composition was it, and writing for the voice became my priority.
Jasmine Arielle, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’ll start with what I’ve been able to accomplish in my career so far. I’m an Emmy Award winning composer who’s music has been described as “refreshing..,engaging…,exciting” by San Francisco Classical Voice, “Beautifully lyrical” by The Telegraph (UK), and “the best possible blend of Billie Holiday and Claude Debussy” by Boston Globe. I’m managed by UIA talent, have been a resident artist for Opera Theater of Saint Louis (2023/24), American Lyric Theater (2021-23) , Chautauqua Opera (2021), and All Classical Portland (2021). I’ve been commissioned by numerous organizations such as NY Philharmonic , American Composers Forum, Juilliard Pre College, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Opera Theater of Saint Louis, Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, The Washington National Opera, The Kennedy Center, Aspen Music Festival and School, Apollo Chamber Players, Baltimore Choral Arts, CityMusic Cleveland, LyricFest Philadelphia, University of Maryland, among others. Outside of commissions, my work has been performed in halls and spaces such as Carnegie Hall, LA Opera, Wigmore Hall (UK), Elb Philharmonie (Germany), Portland Opera, Tulsa Opera, and more. I’ve worked with artists like Lawrence Brownlee, Karen Slack, Russel Thomas, Leah Hawkins, Will Liverman, to name a few. I think it’s fair to say my focus is in writing for the voice and that’s what I carry into writing for instruments as well.
I have a couple upcoming opera premieres:
One at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis titled “On My Mind” with librettist Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton and this opera is about our friendship. I love collaborating with Deborah and she’s truly become my best friend !This piece is a part of the New Works Collective which is a collection of three 20 minute operas, all varying in subject, to create one night of opera. It premieres March 14-16 2024 at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center in St. Louis.
The other opera is “She Who Dared” also with librettist Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton and this one was commissioned by American Lyric Theater. This opera is a full length commission, and the longest opera I’ve ever written (Two hours). It’s about the women of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. We all know who Rosa Parks is, and maybe a bit about Claudette Colvin, but the boycott was an effort led by women and we wanted to make sure that history was told. Browder V. Gayle is a court case many know nothing about, yet it’s one of the most important civil rights cases in American history. We’re super excited about the orchestral workshop coming later this year in NYC and the premiere in 2025 at a company I’m not at liberty to say just yet, but stay tuned !
I shared a bit about my beginnings in music, so I’ll share more about that and my professional career. While in grad school, I was a graduate teaching assistant and I was basically the substitute teacher of the music department . Because I obtained my masters from the same place as my bachelors, the faculty was quite familiar with my work ethic and my understanding of materials. Whatever was needed I was there and was trusted to maintain the quality of instruction that my professors provided. This teaching experience (much of which was to my own peers) geared me up for further skills in instruction. Post grad, I became the Head of Composition and Jazz Voice at Booker T Washington High-school for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas Texas. I spent 3 years there and left to pursue a full time career in composition.
What I hope to leave behind is music that resonates with people , brings emotions to audiences, and stories that last.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
There’s a saying in Latin “Vita Brevis, Ars Longa” which means “Life is short, Art is long”. I think the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the ability to create something that will live longer than you . I think every creative’s goal is to be remembered, to leave art behind that not only informs the next generation of artists, but inspires the everyday person. Art is such a huge part of my life, but dare I say, it’s a big part of everyone’s life . What keeps me going is that everyday person, who might not have the words to express how they feel about life, but experiences art that says it for them . I want to create art that speaks for the people.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Representation is huge for me. As a Black Female Composer in Classical Music, most rooms I enter , I am the only one. So much has changed in the last few decades with the amount of Black Women composers we see, but the field is still predominantly male and predominantly white. Yes, classical music is a European art form that has made its way around the world , and some would argue I have no business in it, but I’d counter that with the countless African American art forms that are global, and it’s diverse communities. I’d counter that with the amount of institutionalized standards of said art forms that seek to exclude Black people from those same spaces , or even the documented history of those exclusions, resulting in some of those art forms not even considered African American anymore. I think everyone deserves a space in classical music if they so choose. My goal will always be to make classical music accessible to everyone. I love including other genres into my music because of its familiarity to those who don’t indulge in classical music regularly. I want them to see themselves when they see or listen to my work .
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jasminebarnescomposer.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/jazzybsinger
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/jazzybsinger
Image Credits
Jasmine Arielle Barnes , Composer