Barbara Witham McCargar

"Being a member of a small vocal ensemble, spreading the sound and visions of Hildegard von Bingen, is not something that I ever would have foreseen for myself. I remember that in graduate school at the University of Michigan, a fellow student was discovering early music of Hildegard and I was discovering Grand Opera. So here I am, over twenty years later, having researched and performed the music of many women composers, yet being challenged mentally to the greatest extent by the mesmerizing chant in collaboration with two fabulous women. I am still learning and growing. This experience has broadened me as a person more than any recent musical experience in my life. My great fortune is the gift of working with Gwen and Carol."

BARBARA WITHAM McCARGAR - has been teaching Voice on the campus of Aquinas College since 1987 and is now an Associate Professor of Music as well as Director of Vocal Activities and Chair of the Music Department. As a soloist, she has given many recitals in concert halls and churches in addition to having been a featured singer in Grand Rapids Symphony Pops Concerts, with the Kalamazoo and Calvin College Oratorio Societies, the Grand Rapids Choir of Men and Boys, St. Cecilia Music Society, the Ann Arbor Cantata Singers, at Lake Michigan College, Western Michigan University and a College Music Society's Spring Conference in Madison, WI. Ms. McCargar sang in Austria and Hungary, recorded a CD and performed as a member and soloist with the Chamber Choir of Grand Rapids. Her performing career has spanned over three decades, from Art Song to Musical Theater. She has performed roles on stage with Lansing Lyric Opera, Opera Grand Rapids (most recently as Mercedes in Bizet's CARMEN), Youth Opera USA with composer Sanford Jones, Circle Theater (most recently as Desiree in Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music), Spectrum Theater, and been featured debuting songs by Roelof Bijkerk in the composers forum at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, with the composer at the piano.

Ms. McCargar is also releasing a CD of Women Composers' works for soprano and piano, which evolved from annual lecture recitals with her colleagues on the campus of Aquinas during Women's History Month. The 2005 CD includes songs for solo voice and piano by Libby Larsen, Florence Price, Undine Smith Moore, Amy Marcy Beach, Sylvia Glickman, and Betty Jackson King. Fellow faculty members performing on the CD are accompanist and piano soloist, Mary Hurd, and pianist, Catherine Williams, O.P., playing extended works by Rhene Jaque and Lili Boulanger, respectively.

Associate Professor McCargar holds a Master of Music in Voice, with secondary emphasis in Opera from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, with further study at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. She received the BM in Vocal Performance from Aquinas. She has been a member for over 20 years and this Spring joins the Michigan board of the National Association of Teachers of Singing(NATS). Her current professional study includes: Alexander Technique lessons with Barbara Conable, in Portland, Oregon, and Patricia Gallup, in Grand Rapids, MI, www.alexandertech.com; and training for certification in WEM - What Every Musician (Singer) Needs to Know About the Body with Andover Educators, www.bodymap.org.