Background & Offerings

I offer 20+ years of music experience as an orchestra conductor, composer, and chamber music coach/teacher.

My early studies and work were completed in Helsinki, Finland where I was head of the Chamber Music Department at the Helsinki University, founded the Helsinki Camerata, and led the Helsinki Community College Orchestra. After returning to the US in 2000 I worked primarily as a conductor in the Chicago area and while producing the chamber music series “Sounds of the South Loop.” While in Chicago I also presented public masterclasses and mentored young conductors and composers.

In 2011, I suddenly returned to an earlier passion of composition, finding that the years on the podium had made my creative palette quite fertile. In 2015, I was a Semi-finalist for American Prize for orchestra composition (professional level) for “Montegar for viola and strings.” August 2019 saw the worldwide release of my debut album “Caprio” featuring eclectic wind + string combinations of instruments usually hidden within an orchestra: the oboe, clarinet, viola.

As the KISMET Foundation’s 2018 Artist-in-Residence and created the work "Yarmouth Time" for Violin and Cello which captures the inspiration of Maine's natural beauty, dynamic winter climate, and the spirit of the town of Yarmouth, ME. Yarmouth Time appears on the Trio Casals album "Moto Finale", released by Navona Records in December 2021.

I regularly organize "Barbara's Chamber Music Camp" in Burlington, VT, a one-week chamber music event in July.