Barbara Zuchowicz Dip. Mus. (Carleton) M.Mus. (New England Conservatory) is a gifted teacher and performer on violas da gamba, baroque and modern 'cello.
She believes that music education is important for learners of all ages, and benefits the community in many ways.Her studio includes students of all ages and levels.
An energetic advocate of new music for young students, Barbara has worked with composers to add to the Canadian Music Showcase 'cello syllabus.
She has programmed and performed in innumerable concerts of music from Canada's earliest days in venues large and small, for audiences of all ages: from classrooms to the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, the Boston Early Music Festival, Festival de Musique Sacrée de l'Outaouais, and the London Early Music Festival among others. Under her direction Gambina received awards from the McConnell Family Foundation and the Ontario Arts Council Artists in Education programme for outstanding work in educating young audiences.
As a teacher she also supports and encourages adult learning; "Being actively involved in art and music is for everyone." In 1996 for the Ottawa Regional Branch of Ontario Registered Music Teachers she founded the thriving adult student masterclass/recital programme, giving adult music students a unique opportunity to prepare for public performance. She is the artistic director of the Ottawa Adult Cello Day Camp.
Barbara has been heard regularly on CBC Radio and Television and PBS as both a soloist and a chamber music performer. Influential teachers include Wieland Kuijken, Laura Jeppesen, Jordi Savall, Anner Bylsma, and Suzuki Method exponents Catherine Walker, Tanya Lesinsky Carey, and Rick Mooney. She has performed with such outstanding artists as William Christie and Dan Taylor, and as soloist with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Hull Chamber Orchestra, Musica Divina, Men's Voyces and Seventeen Voyces, and has recorded for CBC, NPR, the National Film Board of Canada, Trio Amsel, Amsel Baroque, and other ensembles, and has given masterclasses and lectures on a wide variety of early music topics at universities, festivals and workshops throughout North America. The award winning early music ensemble La Favoritte, of which she is a founding member, collaborated with Seventeen Voyces and CBC Television to produce "Noël Baroque", a broadcast of Christmas music from old and New France. This concert, broadcast nationally, included the Canadian premiere of a Pastorale by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, edited by Ms. Zuchowicz.
In addition to her musical career Barbara enjoys spending time with her dogs and family at her rustic cottage in the Lanark Highlands, drawing and gardening.
She is a member of the Royal Conservatory of Music College of Examiners.