Breadcrumb

Lorena A. Barba

PhD, Caltech (2004)

For up-to-date contact information, please see my faculty profile.

 

Interests (outside work)

Jazz singing

My most active interest outside work these days is singing, and jazz. I perform as a jazz singer with a big band and with small combos, and constantly try to improve my skills and knowledge of the jazz idiom.

I started singing jazz with the Caltech Jazz Bands, which was a wonderful learning and performing opportunity; I am sincerely thankful to the musical director, Bill Bing, for his patience and generosity. Here in Bristol, I have joined the David Salt Big Band, and have developed as a singer performing with my own trio. My singing technique was first improved by private lessons from Emma Hutchinson, and after that I have progressed in my jazz education by attending several summer shools and other courses.

In 2004 I participated in the first Loire Vocal Jazz Summer School, with Tina May and Anita Wardell. I attended the first advanced jazz course by Mehr Clef (2005), with Lee Gibson, Peter Churchill and, again, Tina May — and I have been back to the Loire summer school on two occasions, and attended the Mehr Clef advanced performance course this year (2007).


Flying

Hugging a Cessna 172 on a military airstrip, Temuco, Chile.

I have other very dear interests in which, unfortunately, I am not very active since I relocated to England. The oldest of these is flying. I learned to fly at an early age, and when I moved to California I had my Chilean pilot's licence certified by the FAA. So, I continued to fly during my PhD, although less often than I used to in Chile. The main impediment was time, but also money. In England, in addition to lack of time, there is the problem of bad weather! I haven't flown since 2001.



Martial arts and motorcycling

In California, I acquired two interests that became very important to me: chinese martial arts, and motorcycling.

Girl power at the Ken Edwards Kung Fu school (me at the left).

I have not kept very active in either of these in England. I did my motorcycle training and examined for the UK licence (harder than in California!) and bought a bike which is now sadly parked in the cycle garage at work.



In martial arts, although for a couple of years after moving here I did practice kung fu on my own, the lack of a school (and lousy weather for practicing outside) eventually wore me down. I have attended a couple of intensive weekend or week-long training camps, though, and I continue to be a big fan of kung fu movies (how geeky is that?).

Back in California, I was a student in the Northern Shaolin Eagle Claw school "Shan Tung Kung Fu"; it was my great privilege to learn under Sifu Ken Edwards, and be a part of this unique family which is his school. Shortly after arriving to England, I was accepted to attend some private lessons with a local Eagle Claw master (of different lineage), Sifu Julian Dale, with Sifu Ken Edward's blessing. Unfortunately, the train travel to Maidenhead ended un being too long, the trains too unreliable, and my time too limited; so I discontinued the lessons.

In 2006, I attended the Kung Fu summer camp of the Wahnam institute, taught by Grandmaster Wonk Kiew Kit. This was a grueling week, but a fantastic learning and training experience. We are going back this year, to the Chi Kung course 18 Shaolin Lohan hands, and to the Taijiquan 3-day course.

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