Music instructor happy to guide students in vocal performance after years of performing with legendary stars
Story by James Hill. Photos by Ric Getter.
USC graduate Sam Barbara has worked with many musical super stars.
It’s not every day at Portland Community College that you can ask somebody the question, “Who did you like working with most – Barry Manilow or The Rolling Stones?” But it’s a question that needs to be asked when a person has the background of Sam Barbara.
“Both were special, but there’s no comparing anything to standing on the Staples Center stage in front of tens of thousands of people, close enough to touch Mick Jagger, and seeing the energy he still has in his 70s,” he said. “He can hold an audience in the palm of his hand. It’s inspiring to watch an artist still rocking it at that age.”
Barbara, who directs the Rock Creek Campus choir, worked with Manilow years ago at a holiday tree‑lighting event at Staples. At the University of Southern California, Barbara served as the contractor for the university’s choir, coordinating high-profile appearances, including singing at Nancy Reagan’s house, The Jay Leno Show and TV shows like “Glee.”
Sam Barbara’s most thrilling musical moment?
“As assistant conductor of the USC Thornton Chamber Singers during my doctoral work, we performed at the National Collegiate Choral Organization conference in Colorado in a Morten Lauridsen retrospective. Lauridsen, who is one of the world’s leading choral composers and a Sunset High School graduate, joined us and played piano. Performing his music with the composer at the keyboard, to a packed house of collegiate choral directors who leapt to their feet was a peak musical moment. It came when my doctoral workload felt heavy, and that night gave me the push to finish.”
“At USC, high‑profile gigs come with the territory,” Barbara said. “I got my money’s worth.”
The notable experiences came when Barbara was working on his doctorate of Musical Arts in Choral Music from USC. He was a senior teaching assistant in the Department of Choral and Sacred Music and assistant conductor of the USC Thornton Chamber Singers. He studied under renowned conductors Jo-Michael Scheibe, Cristian Grases, Nick Strimple and Donald Brinegar.
“It’s not that I set out to sing with rock musicians, but days like that happen in Los Angeles,” Barbara said. “USC really gave me access to high‑profile artists and taught me that you have to hustle and build your network if you want to make it.”
That is exactly what he is trying to instill in his 30-plus chamber choir. The PCC Music Program, which offers choir experiences at not only Rock Creek but also the Sylvania Campus, is gearing up for fall choir performances.
The slate of entertainment begins with the Rock Creek Bands and Choirs’ Midterm Performance at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 5 in The Forum at the Rock Creek Campus (17705 NW Springville Rd). In addition, the Chamber Choir and Chorus will share their voices at Portland’s beloved Grotto Festival of Lights (8840 NE Skidmore St) on Wednesday, Dec. 3, and then join Clark College to perform Bach’s Cantata 142 on Saturday, Dec. 6 at Vancouver First United Methodist Church (401 E 33rd St). The season concludes with the Rock Creek Choirs Final Concert on Wednesday, Dec. 10 in The Forum at Rock Creek. All performances are at 7 p.m.
“We’ve got strong new singers and excellent retention from last year, which creates a real synergy,” Barbara said. “I’m building a robust calendar because they deserve meaningful experiences. Collaboration is central to who I am. Opportunities also come in; we get calls for choirs at various functions, and we say yes when we can.”
PCC’s Music Program typically hosts two concerts per term, including a planned variety show that doubles as a fundraiser for the program through the PCC Foundation this winter.
“It lets students shine as soloists and as an ensemble, which are very different skills,” he said.
Barbara is preparing choir students for their first performance on Oct. 23.
Right now, the students involved are preparing for their first concert of the year on Oct. 23. The Music Program will collaborate with Glencoe High School, which is a feeder for the program.
“The concert is all moon‑themed music and every text relates to it,” Barbara said. “It puts our students on stage, some alongside former classmates, and lets Glencoe’s community see what we do here. We’re only in week three of rehearsal, and they already sound terrific. This is probably the most talented group I’ve had since before the pandemic. We’d built the program up, then March 2020 changed everything. It’s taken time, but I think we’re back.”
Besides leading the Rock Creek Chamber and Concert choirs, he teaches applied voice and class voice courses. A native Oregonian (Medford), Barbara returned home pre-COVID after serving as Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music at Westminster College in Pennsylvania.
Earlier in his career, Barbara directed choirs at Cleveland High School, where his ensembles won three Oregon State Choir Championships. He holds both a Bachelor of Arts in Music and a Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Portland, where he was later honored as a Fulbright Scholar in Weimar, Germany.
In addition to his teaching and conducting, he remains active as a soloist, clinician and adjudicator. His research interests include music literacy through solfège and contemporary German choral repertoire.
Choir students getting into the groove during practice at Rock Creek.
Faculty in PCC’s Music Program help students see the breadth of music careers. A lot goes into music education to ready students for transfer to four-year universities or gain valuable music training. The program prepares students for performance (opera, recitals) and both musical theatre and music therapy.
At the core of the Music Program is the ensemble, which is an audition‑based class. It follows a group that meets earlier in the day that is open to all students with no audition needed, focusing more on pedagogy and vocal warm‑ups. Barbara said many students take both because they love it.
“Roughly two‑thirds of our students identify as music majors taking theory, ear training and piano,” he said. “The other third come from any major and often sang in high school.”
For choir participants, who can range from fresh high school graduates to older learners auditing the class, performances are a key skill development. Besides the learning, and there is a lot of learning, the experience of being part of a choir can be meditative.
“For many, it’s the breath of fresh air that carries them through academic or economic stress,” Barbara said. “They may struggle with mental health, coursework, or finances, but the music room lets them leave that at the door and get lost in the work. It’s a community: they know each other well, share highs and lows, and learn to support one another in concert.”
For more information on PCC’s Music Program, visit www.pcc.edu/music/