Composer and conductor Hannah A. Barnes focuses on crafting structured yet dynamic, multi-faceted musical worlds characterized by mercurial, volatile, and seemingly incompatible materials. These works straddle tension and expression for both performers and listeners. Barnes’ main concerns are (re)defining Modernism in the twenty-first century, investigating manifestations of complexity and polyphony, and addressing questions of syntax and semantics within a non-narrative musical language that encompasses both harmonic and noise-based materials. Having been described by a performer as composing “alien music,” she embraces the strange, unpredictable and mysterious in art of all kinds. Currently a DMus student at McGill University studying composition with Prof. Philippe Leroux, Hannah completed degrees in composition (MMus w/Distinction ’21, BMus High Honours ’19) from DePaul University, with additional studies in conducting.