Susan LaBarr

b. 1981

Susan LaBarr is a composer and choral editor living and working in Springfield, Missouri. Her compositions are published by Santa Barbara Music Publishing, Walton Music, and MorningStar Music. In 2015 and 2016, Susan completed commissions for Seraphic Fire, the National ACDA Women's Choir Consortium, and for the Texas Choral Director's Association's Director's Chorus. She served as the Missouri Composer Laureate for 2012 and 2013, and has been Composer-In-Residence for the Tennessee Chamber Chorus and the Chattanooga Girls Choir (Tennessee). Her arrangement of Quem pastores laudavere appeared on New York Polyphony's 2014 Grammy-nominated album, Sing Thee Nowell.

Susan has sung professionally with the Tennessee Chamber Chorus and CORO Vocal Artists. Central to Susan's musical vocabulary is the knowledge she gained from studying with Alice Parker at her home in Hawley, Massachusetts, where she attended the Composer's Workshop and Melody Studies Workshop in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Susan attended Missouri State University in Springfield, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in music and a Master of Music in music theory. Susan, her husband Cameron, and their son Elliott reside in Springfield, Missouri, where Cameron is the Director of Choral Studies at Missouri State University and Susan works as Editor of Walton Music.