Biography of Barbara Solís

Barbara Solís (b. June 29, 1931; d. February 2, 2010), A.R.C.T., B.Mus., was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She began musical studies at age four and showed early promise, receiving the highest examination marks in the province at age six. In 1963, she became a piano pupil of Lloyd Powell of Vancouver.

Ms. Solís continued studies at the Victoria Conservatory of Music starting in 1973 and achieved her A.R.C.T. (Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Music, University of Toronto) in piano performance in 1975.

From 1975 to 1980, Ms. Solís lived in Spain, where she studied Spanish classical repertoire at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid, appeared on Radiotelevisión Española, and performed in recital. She also studied Spanish dance.

After returning to Canada, Ms. Solís earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Ottawa in 1996. During this period, she also studied aspects of Arabic culture.

She gave lecture-recitals in Ottawa at Carleton University, the University of Ottawa, the First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa, St. Luke’s Anglican Church and other venues. She also gave a lecture at Villanova University in Philadelphia in 1997.

In 1997, Ms. Solís began to present concerts with Ottawa violist Kevin James. She arranged several works from the Spanish classical repertoire for piano with viola. In 2002, the duo recorded seven of these arrangements for their CD, The Mystical Music of Andalucia, which also contains Ms. Solís’s interpretations of Spanish classical music for solo piano.

Biographical materials

Additional biographical information can be found in the following and in Ms. Solís’s concert programs.