The Kotas Project

Barbara Harbach was born on February 14th, 1946 in Pennsylvania. Harbach earned her Bachelor’s in Harpsichord and organ performance at Penn State and her Master’s at Yale. Harbach also received a Doctorate in Composition from the Eastman School of Music.

From 1991 to 1997 Harbach served as the Professor of Music at Washington State University. From 1997 to 2000 she acted as the Visiting Professor of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Visiting Professor of Fine Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens from 200 to 2004. She is currently the Professor of Music at the University of Missouri-St. Louis where she teaches performance and composition classes. Harbach also participates in the research, editing, publication, and recording of pieces by 18th century keyboard composers as well as female composers. In June 2009 her musical Booth! won a competition at the Tisch School of the Arts. In 1989 Harbach founded Vivace Press, which is a publishing company that specializes in under-represented composers. Harbach is also the one of the founders of Women of Note Quarterly and Women in the Arts-St. Louis, a group dedicated to creating more opportunities for women artists. Harbach received the Arts Education Award from the Missouri Arts Council, the Missouri Citizen for the Arts Award, the Yellow rose Award from the Zonta International Club of St. Louis, the UM-St. Louis College of Fine Arts and Communication, Faculty Excellence Award, and the Hellenic Spirit Foundation Award.