Joan La Barbara, composer, performer, sound artist, actor, is renowned for her unique vocabulary of experimental and extended vocal techniques, influencing generations of composers and singers. Awards include: Foundation for Contemporary Arts John Cage Award (2016); Premio Internazionale "Demetrio Stratos"; DAAD-Berlin and Civitella Ranieri Artist-in-Residencies; Guggenheim Fellowship; seven National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, and The American Music Center's Letter of Distinction for her significant contributions to contemporary American music. “Ears of an Eagle; Eyes of a Hawk: In the Vortex” was commissioned by The New York Philharmonic Project 19 and premiered on February 10, 2020 in The Appell Room, Jazz @ Lincoln Center. Other numerous commissions include composing for multiple voices, chamber ensembles, orchestra, interactive technology, and soundscores for dance, video and film, including for voice and electronics for Sesame Street broadcast worldwide since 1977. Her multi-layered textural compositions were presented at Brisbane Biennial, Festival d'Automne à Paris, Warsaw Autumn, MaerzMusik Berlin, and Lincoln Center among many others. Artistic Director of the multi-year Carnegie Hall series "When Morty Met John”, co-founder of performing composers collective Ne(x)tworks, featured actor in artist Matthew Barney's film "River of Fundament" and Aleksandar Kostic's award-winning "Parallel Dreams".

With Jóhann Jóhannsson, she co-composed cues for feature film “Arrival” (2016), incorporating her original music from "Erin”. Recordings of her work include: "ShamanSong"; "Sound Paintings", "Voice is the Original Instrument"; "Tapesongs", "73 Poems", “The Debussy Effect”, and “The Early Immersive Music of Joan La Barbara”. For her sound painting "in solitude this fear is lived", inspired by Agnes Martin's minimalist drawings, La Barbara seated the American Composers Orchestra around and among the audience in Carnegie's Zankel Hall. La Barbara is a member of the Music Composition Artist Faculty at New York University and the College of Performing Arts Faculty at Mannes/The New School. Composer and publisher member of ASCAP, her compositions are also published by PSNY (Schott); member of SAG-AFTRA and AEA, she is working on a commission for vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth and is composing a new opera exploring the artistic process, interior dialogue, and sounds within the mind.
www.joanlabarbara.com