Jasmine Barnes

About

Jasmine Arielle Barnes (September 28, 1991) is a promising composer/vocalist who has performed and has had her music performed all over the world. Her music has been described as “precisely imagined” by the Washington Post, “refreshing..,engaging…,exciting” by San Francisco Classical Voice, "memorable" by Houston Press, and “the best possible blend of Billie Holiday and Claude Debussy” by Boston Globe. She is a multifaceted composer who embraces any writing style of music using a variety of instrumentation and specializes in writing for the voice. A full time composer, Barnes is managed by UIA talent for her work as a composer, is a resident artist in American Lyric Theater's Composer Librettist Development Program, and has held residencies as a composer fellow at Chautauqua Opera 2021 season, as well as a residency with All Classical Portland. Barnes has been privileged to be commissioned by numerous organizations such as NY Philharmonic and Juilliard Pre College, The Washington National Opera (in celebration of the Kennedy Center's 50th year anniversary), Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival and School, Baltimore Choral Arts, Aural Compass Projects, Resonance Ensemble, Tapestry Choir, CityMusic Cleveland, LyricFest Philadelphia, Burleigh Music Festival, Symphony Number One, Baltimore Musicales, Anima Mundi Productions, amongst others. ​ Drawing her attention to Opera more often , she's now written 5 operas: ​ "The Late Walk" -Nikolaus Cox, librettist (10 min) "Star Arts High" (45 min) "The Burning Bush" - Joshua Banbury, librettist (10 min) "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" - Marcus Yi, librettist (30 min) "She Who Dared" - Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, librettist (120 min) (workshopping via American Lyric Theater in May 2023) Jasmine is not only a composer/vocalist, but an educator. She is the former Head of Compositional Studies and Jazz Voice Studies at Booker T Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, TX. She holds her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Music from Morgan State University in Baltimore Maryland. Her Master of Arts in Music was earned as a Composition student studying under Dr. James Lee III. She proved her musical prowess in her debut composition concert entitled "Reality Race and Religion" that took place on May 9th, 2018 in the Gilliam Concert Hall of the Carl J. Murphy Fine Arts Center. She was the very first composition major of Morgan State University, thus hosting the first composition recital, setting the bar high for those to follow. As a student in the Morgan State University Choir, she was privy to showcasing her work through the choir, who has performed her music in three continents and all over the United States. She held the esteemed pleasure of being a Graduate Teaching Assistant teaching Music Theory and Aural Skills to students of Morgan State University which prepared her well for teaching various levels of Music Theory including AP Music Theory in her career as a teacher. Her professional career in teaching lead her to educator honors such as National Young Arts Foundation Educator (5x recipient), Teacher Recognition award recipient from American Composer's Forum; NextNotes High School Music Creator Competition, as well as partnering with AT&T Performing Arts Center in creating a composition competition for her students to compose an original piece for the acclaimed chandelier in the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas, TX, home of the Dallas Opera.. She is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated as well as Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity Inc. One motto of Sigma Alpha Iota that Jasmine holds true to her life as an artist is "Vita Brevis, Ars Longa" which translates from Latin to English as "Life is Short, Art is Long". She believes that giving your all to music, contributing to the art, and teaching what you've learned is truly upholding Art and being a true musician.

Related Information

Works by Jasmine Barnes