Film score composer Lesley Barber.

They Shoot, She Scores

Text: BENOÎT BRIÈRE
Photo: LAURA ARSIÈ

Lesley Barber knows the score; it’s all about ambient minimalism and perfect classical structure (unlike most schmaltzy modern film scores). Ever since the Torontonian won Canada’s Socan National Competition for Young Composers as a tween, she has created music not only for film and theatre but also for more complex pieces destined for concert halls.

No matter who she’s working for, Barber finds inspiration in surprising places. Marshland, a work for string quartet, has melodies based on field recordings of birdsong. The film You Can Count on Me incorporates elements of Appalachian folklore, while A Price Above Rubies borrows from the Hasidic tradition. She’s even delved into Jane Austen’s late 18th-century England for the film Mansfield Park. “I’ve had to go into some interesting musical worlds,” she says. “I love that part of the process.”

The soundtrack for Being Julia, starring Annette Bening and Jeremy Irons, was one of her biggest projects of 2004. But it’s safe to say that she’ll remember the year for another milestone: the birth of her daughter, Evie. Spending time with her little girl gave Barber the chance to examine her career or at least, as she puts it, “to get off the workhorse and take a breather.”

For the last few months, Barber has returned to work, scoring new films and planning projects for the new year. And that is music to our ears.

To watch for in 2005:

_ A work in several movements, composed for concert pianist Eve Egoyan, to premiere on the CBC Radio program Two New Hours.

_ Launch of a self-produced CD.

_ Score for the film Netty Sharp, directed by Patricia Rozema.