Victoria Barbé
- Senior Lecturer in Performing Arts
- Institute of the Arts
- Performing Arts
- Email: victoria.barbe@cumbria.ac.uk
- Tel: +44 (0)1228 588542
- Location: Carlisle - Brampton Road
Biography
Trained at the Royal Academy of Music and Guildhall School of Music and Drama, British Soprano, Victoria Barbé is an experienced performer and teacher of Musical Theatre, Classical Song, Opera and Contemporary Music.
Performances have been in venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, London Palladium, St David's Hall and for Chandos Recordings and under the batons of Sir Colin Davies, John Owen Edwards and Richard Hickox. Roles played include Mimi in La Boheme, Zorah in Ruddigore for the International Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company, Mrs Beguildy in the Demo of the New Musical, Harvest Home by Bernard Irvin, Featured Singer in the Thursford Christmas Spectacular, and as ‘Chorus’ for Dimitri Scarlato and Laura-Jane Foley’s short digital opera, A Life Reset, the performance of which, as streamed on Opera Vision, won the Rolf Liebermann Prize.
Since gaining her Licentiate to teach Vocal Studies (LRAM), Victoria taught across institutions in Hertfordshire and London, including the City Literary Institute in Covent Garden, and in 2014 joined the University of Cumbria Institute of Arts as a Lecturer in Music Theatre, and since, Senior Lecturer in Performing Arts, Programme Leader of Musical Theatre and Director of the new University of Cumbria Choir.
She is also the External Examiner for BA(Hons) Musical Theatre at Edgehill University and has recently sat as an External Validation Board Panel Member for the University of Northampton with Stella Mann College and LMA.
A major focus for Victoria currently, is to develop inclusive yet high quality community projects, with a mission to work in tandem with the University of Cumbria’s strategic vision to increase higher education participation in our county, to address higher-level skills and sector needs and most importantly to positively impact on the lives and livelihoods of individuals across our communities.
Victoria was nominated and selected as a finalist in the University of Cumbria Student Union Lecturer of the Year Awards in 2015.
Outside of professional interests, Victoria loves to read, travel, dance, and has even dabbled in travel writing for PO Life - a magazine for ex-pats in the South of France.
Qualifications and memberships
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
PgC in Academic Practice from the University of Cumbria
MMUS - Guildhall Artist Programme in Performance, specialising in Vocal Studies - from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London
Bmus (Hons) in Vocal Studies from the Royal Academy of Music, London
LRAM - Licentiate to Teach from the Royal Academy of Music, London
Victoria is a member of Equity and the British Voice Association
Academic and research interests
Psychological barriers in performance & singing, and methods to overcome them
Community Practice and associated health benefits
Decolonisation of curriculum and performance projects in the community
Inclusivity
Latest vocal pedagogy - keeping abreast of the latest scientific research in regards to vocal practice
Recent external roles
External Examiner for BA(Hons) Musical Theatre at Edgehill University
External Validation Board Panel Member for the University of Northampton with Stella Mann College and LMA.
Victoria is also a freelance soprano and actress, most recently performing in the prize winning short digital opera, A Life Reset by Dimitri Scarlato and Laura Jane Foley, and as featured on Opera Vision.