Barbara White

Barbara White is Professor of Music at Princeton University, where she has been teaching since 1998. She is a distinguished composer with decades of experience in concert music and interdisciplinary collaboration, and an accomplished clarinetist with special interest in shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) and Cape Breton musical traditions.

Her research interests span contemporary composition, the relationship between music and everyday experience, gender studies in music, traditional music practices, and the intersection of art with text, movement, and cultural context. She has developed innovative courses on topics including 'outsider music,' interculturalism and exoticism, autobiography and masquerade, and the relationship between specialized art-making and everyday experience.

White's scholarly work explores the coordination between sound and movement, the relationship between creative activity and everyday life, and the impact of gender, listening, and spirituality on music. Her compositions range from intimate solo and chamber works to larger projects like the opera 'Weakness,' which premiered in 2012 and examines themes of female sovereignty and bystander complicity through a Celtic myth adaptation.

• Fromm Music Foundation Commission recipient (2017)
• Extensive work with shakuhachi performer Riley Lee
• Duo collaborations including 'Farewell to Music' and 'Fork & Spoon'
• Development of unique performance practices integrating contemplative and creative elements

As a dedicated educator, White serves as composition teacher and dissertation advisor, cultivating both open-mindedness and rigor in her students. Her teaching philosophy emphasizes receptive listening to young composers' ideas while developing their technical and conceptual skills. She has hosted visiting artists like Riley Lee in her seminars, culminating in full concerts of student works.