BONNIE BARNETT, vocalist, composer and improviser, resides in Los Angeles. After studying classical, 20th century and early music at the University of Illinois, UC San Diego and the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, vocalist Bonnie Barnett turned her focus to new music, publishing a pioneering paper on vocal multiphonics - "Aspects of Vocal Multiphonics", (Interface, Journal of New Music Research, Amsterdam and Ghent, 1977).
From 1967-1974, Bonnie was a member of Kenneth Gaburo's New Music Choral Ensemble, and from 69'-74', an original member of Pauline Oliveros' Women's Ensemble. In the late '70's Barnett relocated to San Francisco where she developed a series of public vocal rituals called "The TUNNEL HUM PROJECT," and over the past 30 years has staged more than 80 HUM events.
Since moving to Los Angeles in 1986, Barnett has become involved in the L.A. free jazz scene, and co-hosts a radio program ("Trilogy") that features new music in its many forms, which airs weekly on KXLU.com Wednesdays from 9-10 pm PT
Barnett's current ensemble, The Barnett Group -- including local woodwind player Richard Wood, Santa Barbara bassist Hal Onserud and San Francisco Bay Area percussionist Garth Powell -- focuses on free improvisation, creating spontaneous structures and developing group timbres. This ensemble released a CD on the pfMentum label in 2011, In Between Dreams, which has garnered worldwide reviews and airplay.
Barnett also has a number of other cd releases on Nine Winds Records, including a 2006 duo project with bassist Ken Filiano, Trio For Two, a release of a work written for her voice by Hermann Buhler, "EARTHBOUND”, on For 4 Ears, and appears on two DICE compilations. Barnett incorporates texts by Gertrude Stein, Jean-Paul Sartre, Donald Barthelme, Gary Snyder, Federico Garcia Lorca, and the early Dada writers, among others into her work.
Photographer: Steve DeGroodt