Victoria Barbé

Biography

Victoria trained primarily at the Royal Academy of Music in London and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She is an experienced performer and teacher, equally passionate about both disciplines.

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 in Opera, Operetta and Musicals include Mimi in La Boheme, Zorah in Ruddigore for the International Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company, and Mrs Beguildy in the Demo of the New Musical, Harvest Home by Bernard Irvin.

Since gaining her Licentiate to teach Vocal Studies from the Royal Academy of Music, Victoria's Student Successes include Scholarships into Mountview Theatre Academy, Urdang Academy, MIAM Academy in Istanbul, coaching students for West End auditions, and many successes in exams up to diploma level with ABRSM and LCM Boards

Victoria has previously held input on course content, criteria and delivery at The City Literary Institute in Covent Garden, also creating a new course, Prepare for Opera.

As a young singer she was awarded the Elias Singing Prize for Sopranos, a Sir Geraint Evans Scholarship and a Philip Langridge Bursary.

Victoria is passionate about keeping her knowledge fresh and relevant, and so regularly participates in professional workshops and masterclasses with leading artists and professionals across Musical Theatre and Opera genres including Anne-Marie Speed, Paul Farrington, Nelly Miricioiu, Anne Vosser, Pippa Ailion, Sally Burgess and Ian Judge. Her interest in the Estill Model has led to being on the Certified Master Training Pathway.

Musical Theatre classes at the University of Cumbria with Victoria aim to empower students to engage with various styles of singing across different genres within Musical Theatre, Contemporary Music, and Classical Music should they wish, and to grow in self-belief and confidence.

Victoria is passionate about the student experience, and 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

Estill Model

Phonetics

Ongoing development of the BA (Hons) Performing Arts and BA (Hons) Mucial Theatre Programmes

Latest vocal pedagogy - keeping abreast of the latest scientific research in regards to vocal practice

Research supervision

Victoria is in her 2nd year of her CMT training in the Estill Model, under the mentorship of renowned TV & West End Vocal Coach, Anne-Marie Speed, of the Royal Academy of Music and The Voice Explained

Recent external roles

Victoria is also a freelance soprano and actress, most recently collaborating with Dance Ahead for performances in Cumbria. She also regularly performs with Soprano, Mary Hitch and Pianist, Nicholas Butters.

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