Ysaye Maria Barnwell (born February 28, 1946) is an American singer and composer. Barnwell was a member of the African American

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

ensemble

Sweet Honey in the Rock Sweet Honey in the Rock is an all-woman, African-American a cappella ensemble. They are an American three-time Grammy Award–nominated troupe who express their history as black women through song, dance, and sign language. Originally a four-p ...

from 1979 to 2013. In addition to writing many of the group's songs, Barnwell has been commissioned to create music for dance, choral, film, and stage productions. She is also known for being a female

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

. Barnwell conducts music workshops around the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, including a workshop she created called "Building a Vocal Community: Singing in the African American Tradition". In 1977, she founded the Jubilee Singers, a choir at All Souls Church, Unitarian in Washington, DC.

Early life and education

Barnwell was raised in New York City in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

and later in

Jamaica, Queens Jamaica is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is mainly composed of a large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis to the east; St. Albans, Springf ...

. Barnwell earned bachelor's and master's degrees (1967 and 1968) in

speech pathology Speech is a human vocal communication using language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which hum ...

from

State University of New York at Geneseo The State University of New York College at Geneseo (SUNY Geneseo, Geneseo State College or, colloquially, "Geneseo") is a public liberal arts college in Geneseo, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. The colle ...

, and a PhD (1975) in speech pathology from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

. In 1981, she also earned a Master of Science in

Public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

, from

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

Career

Barnwell produced Sweet Honey in the Rock's 1998 25th anniversary album, '' ...Twenty-Five...'', and edited '' Continuum: The First Songbook of Sweet Honey in the Rock''. Barnwell's acting credits include a principal role on a television series called ''

A Man Called Hawk ''A Man Called Hawk'' is an American action drama series, starring Avery Brooks, that ran on ABC from January 28 to May 13, 1989. The series is a spin-off of the crime drama series '' Spenser: For Hire'', and features the character Hawk, who f ...

''; she also appeared in the 1998 film ''

Beloved Beloved may refer to: Books * ''Beloved'' (novel), a 1987 novel by Toni Morrison * ''The Beloved'' (Faulkner novel), a 2012 novel by Australian author Annah Faulkner *''Beloved'', a 1993 historical romance about Zenobia, by Bertrice Small Film ...

''. Barnwell released a solo recording of stories and song, '' Um Humm'', in 2000. Barnwell has also written a children's book with CD, '' No Mirrors in My Nana's House''. A second children's book and CD set was released in March 2008: ''We Are One''. Barnwell was named after the great Belgian violinist,

Eugène Ysaÿe Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe (; 16 July 185812 May 1931) was a Belgian virtuoso violinist, composer, and conductor. He was regarded as "The King of the Violin", or, as Nathan Milstein put it, the "tsar". Legend of the Ysaÿe violin Eugène Ysa ...

. Barnwell performed her final show with Sweet Honey in the Rock, May 11, 2013, at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.

References

External links

* * *
Ysaye Maria Barwell page at Sweet Honey in the Rock
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnwell, Ysaye Maria 1946 births Living people 20th-century American singers 20th-century Unitarians 21st-century Unitarians Actresses from New York (state) African-American women singer-songwriters American children's writers American film actresses American television actresses American Unitarian Universalists Howard University alumni Singer-songwriters from New York (state) State University of New York at Geneseo alumni University of Pittsburgh alumni Writers from New York (state) Sweet Honey in the Rock members 20th-century American women singers 20th-century African-American women singers 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women American basses