Biography:

(BM 2009, Mannes School of Music at New School University, New York, NY)

Barry (he/him) is an active member of the performing arts community throughout southeastern Wisconsin and frequent collaborator with artists of all disciplines nationally and internationally.

He is a section bassist in many of the symphony orchestras throughout southeastern Wisconsin, including the Festival City Symphony, Kenosha Symphony Orchestra, and Wisconsin Philharmonic, and has been a featured artist with Florentine Opera.

Outside of his work with regional symphonies, Barry is a member of performance projects Tontine Ensemble, Argopelter, Lady Cannon (ret.), Lawste, adoptahighway, Field Report, Oak You, Cathedral Becomes Tomb, Retroreflector and the Tony Catania Trio, as well as many other ensembles across a broad spectrum of musical output.

He has been a member of the teaching staff at West End Conservatory, Hartford Union High School, and Cardinal Stritch University, in addition to a private studio of bass students.

Barry is a co-curator of the monthly improvised performance series Unrehearsed MKE, along with Milwaukee based composer/musician Steve Gallam, which has been holding events on the first Sunday of each month since February of 2013. The series aims to bring together artists from the greater Milwaukee area and beyond in an improvised performance setting, not only to foster the development of a community of likeminded creators but to help establish collaborative relationships that will sustain the contemporary performing arts scene well into the future through expressions outside of the Unrehearsed MKE gatherings.

Some of his musical compositions can be heard in the film scores for "Seeking Century City" (2017 short, directed by Wes Tank & Adam Carr) and "Plucked" (documentary, Official Selection of the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, Good Credit Productions.) Barry also contributed instrumental performance and string arrangements, under the artistic direction of electronic musician Lorn, to the 2013 Playstation 4 console video game “Killzone Shadow Fall”

Barry is also heavily involved in the dance and movement arts community in Milwaukee. He has worked alongside, composed for and accompanied many of the Milwaukee area’s premiere dance organizations, including the Milwaukee Ballet, Danceworks Inc, Hyperlocal MKE and the dance program at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts.

In addition to the musical side of his creative expressions, Barry also finds an outlet through experimental video work and filmmaking. He created a short film featuring movement artist Mauriah Donegan Kraker titled “Enough is revealed in the way you wait, and in the way you leap” which accompanies music from his 2020 adoptahighway album “Coaxing A Ghost Into The Room.” The film was an official selection at the 2022 Milwaukee Film Festival, as part of their Cream City Cinema programming, and an official selection of the 2023 Minnesota Film Festival in Duluth, MN for the “Memories & Landscapes” shorts programming. His short film “Bid Hope Farewell” was a work commissioned by and curated for the “Horror of the Humanities IX: Dante’s Inferno” event through the DePaul University Humanities Center in October of 2021, and has also been included as an official selection in the 2022 Alternating Currents Film Festival (Audience Award Winner - Experimental Film), Cactus Club Independent Film Festival (Best in Program - Milwaukee Made 2), Experimental Film Fest in New Bern, NC, and the 2022 Scumdance film festival in Sparks, NV (Best Score/Soundtrack), in addition to receiving an honorable mention for experimental short film in the May 2022 Roma Short Film Festival.

When Barry is not involved in his creative practices, his time is generally occupied by reading new literature (particularly contemporary/alternative fiction and poetry) watching films, and having 3 biological sister cats - Shaula, Artemis and Tofu.

Projects:

adoptahighway (solo - experimental & electronic music)

Cathedral Becomes Tomb (solo - effected double bass drone maximalism + multimedia improvisation performance)

Tontine Ensemble (bassist - contemporary music/improvising string quartet)

Field Report (bassist - music based in the songwriter style of American folk music)

Lady Cannon (retired) (bassist - music based in the Americana style, themes of country and folk)

Tony Catania Trio (bassist - improvised music based around the compositions of tenor saxophonist Tony Catania)

Argopelter (bassist - trio featuring members of Field Report performing improvised song and sonic explorations)

Oak You (fka OQ) (bassist - avant-pop incorporating elements of electronic music and international folk)

Retroreflector (bassist - free jazz/psych rock quartet led by the guitar-driven melodic material of Andrew Trim)

and more…

Upcoming performances/events:

Thursday June 27, 2024: Vinyl record spin w/ Amy Kawleski for happy hour(s) @ Cactus Club, Milwaukee, WI (5:00PM)

Thursday July 4, 2024: Ellie Jackson @ Summerfest, Milwaukee, WI (5:45PM)

Sunday July 7, 2024: Hyperlocal MKE #29 - Sonorous Space @ Villa Terrace Arts Museum, Milwaukee, WI (4:00PM)

Sunday July 14, 2024: Caley Conway @ HomeGrown Music Festival, West Bend, WI (6:00PM)

Saturday July 20, 2024: Social Caterpillar farewell show w/ Ellie Jackson @ Cactus Club, Milwaukee, WI (5:00PM)

Thursday July 25, 2024: Vinyl record spin w/ Amy Kawleski for happy hour(s) @ Cactus Club, Milwaukee, WI (5:00PM)

Friday August 2, 2024: J.E. Sunde w/ Caley Conway @ Cactus Club, Milwaukee, WI (6:30PM)