A woman with narrow shoulders and long grey hair steps up to the microphone. In the bluish stage light, she looks pensive and fragile. Which makes the power of her voice all the more surprising as she releases an astonishing variety of sounds into the hall: humming, whirring, sighing; clacking glottal stops, throaty chirps, nasal moans. At times a capella, at times accompanied by electronic soundscapes, she explores every corner of her voice, following the gentle rise and fall of her singing with graceful movements of her slender hands.
As a singer and composer, Joan La Barbara played a key role in shaping experimental classical music over the last 50 years. She has worked closely with Steve Reich, Philip Glass, John Cage, Morton Feldman, and many others, and started publishing her own works early in her career.
I met her at her hotel in Berlin in advance of her performance at the new music festival MaerzMusik. Despite the jet lag, she was fully focused. We discussed extended vocal techniques, finding her way to new music, and outgrowing beloved repertoire.
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