LET ME INTRODUCE:
Barbara Steed Young … A director, conductor, performer and teacher.
I am listening to Puccini’s famous aria, O Mio Babbino Caro. The sopranist sings a melancholy yet familiar tale, as a young girl in love, begs her father to understand. O mio Babbino Caro … Mi piace, è bello, bello … oh my dear papa, I love him so. There’s something about opera music that transports me instantly to another time and another place. Music does hold that ability. I admit I don’t know a lot about opera but it does interest me. A few years ago I saw posters around town of an opera appreciation class. It piqued my interest but still working full time my schedule doesn’t allow the time during the day. The universe does work in mysterious ways as we know, and here I find myself not only having met the teacher but now am lucky enough to tell you about her.
So let’s get started. I popped over to Barbara’s house, here in Stratford to meet with her about this article. Not having met her before I was kind of nervous and didn’t know what to expect. She invited me in to a charming room of gilded framed paintings, a grand piano, Madame Butterfly framed poster on the wall and candle sticks. Like in the aria, I felt like I entered a different realm for lack of a better word. Barbara sat across from me as we chatted about her history and her ongoing work today. Was she actually wearing a caftan and holding a long cigarette ? No, but my mind kept seeing her this way. A beautiful woman reminiscent of the “ haute bohème” living amongst artists, and intellectuals in Paris in the mid 19th century. I liked her at once.
Gosh, where do I begin? She has done so much. Barbara was educated at the Western University, having her degree in voice and piano. She also studied opera at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London England. Ms. Young has worked in Canadian theatre for more than forty years as a conductor, director, performer and teacher.
Did you see Henry V in 2001 or To Kill a Mockingbird in 2007? If you did, you heard her work as she was the composer for the music. She worked with music director Bert Carriere on all the musicals from 1996 to 2008. Pretty Cool eh?
There’s more … Barbara as an educator, in the 1980s Ms Young started the instrumental music and music theatre programs at the Etobicoke School of the Arts (ESA) in Toronto, Canada’s first publicly funded art school. She also founded music theatre programs at the National Music Camp in Orillia, St. Lawrence College in Brockville, and the Stratford Festival Education Department. Barbara had a voice studio in Stratford and is a highly sought music adjudicator and lecturer. In the spring of 2022 with support from John Lederman, she created and delivered a six-week series for the Georgian Triangle Lifelong Learning Institute, as the conductor and music director. She’s a busy gal indeed.
“ My favorite opera is Amahl and the Night Visitors by Carlos Menotti, and I like Maria Callas as a saprano while I enjoy Jonas Kaufmann as a tenor. Always difficult to choose a favourite” says Ms. Young.
So what is this creative woman up to now?
Well, a couple of things. She has a bed and breakfast. She welcomes visitors to her B & B in our tourist season summoning her guests down to breakfast while she plays Bach Prelude in C major, leaving her guests with colourful stories to share when they get home. There I go again … picturing her in a flowing caftan and long cigarette holder. I think she should invest in one just for effect.
The other project she has on the go is an … Music & Opera Appreciation series of lectures, right here in Stratford. Yes, you too can go and learn fun facts about the classics! Learn all about that demon barber of Fleet St. in Sweeney Todd, Norma, The Pearl Fishers and let’s not forget good ole’ Oscar Hammerstein and Stephen Sondheim.
I just happen to know a local couple, Bob and Sarah who took part in Barbara’s Autumn series: they shared the following …
“Barbara’s Music & Opera courses have been such a tonic for so many of us. The lesson material is so thorough and engaging and you can dive as deep as you want into the music. Who else would wear a different kimono at each of the two Madame Butterfly classes. Who else can invite the incredible Mark Fewer and friends for what is essentially an informal and in-person quartet master-class/concert! Barbara is a treasure!”
The 2023 WINTER SERIES — musicandopera.weebly.com
“BEFRIENDED” begins … 10 January — 14 February, 2022 Tuesday afternoons at 1:30 to 3:30
Why not escape winter for a couple of hours every Tuesday afternoon as Ms. Young takes you to far away places in another time?
