HORIZON DUO

United by a shared love of ambitious programming and thoughtful interpretation, Barbie Noyes and Claire McCahan are a piano/vocal due who first began collaborating in 2016 during their graduate studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. The Duo believes in continuing the intimate tradition of the art song recital, while incorporating a wide range of music extending beyond its European roots.

The Duo has appeared in competition at the NATS Artist Awards, Franz Schubert and Modern Music Lied Duo, the Doug Davis Composition and Performance, and were named the 2026 Fellows for the Federation of Art Song. The duo made their New York recital debut at Weill Recital Hall in 2023. Active in the academic community, they have performed and given master classes at The University of Wyoming, South Illinois University, and the University of Colorado Boulder. Both Claire and Barbie were participants in the Cincinnati Song Initiative’s Fellowship of the Song, working closely with renowned collaborative pianist and mentor Margo Garrett. With theme-based programming guided by curiosity and a desire for multi-style incorporation, Horizon Duo explores connections across time, language, and genre.

LISTEN

ABOUT

Barbara Noyes

Collaborative Piano

Claire McCahan

Mezzo Soprano

Pianist Barbara Noyes enjoys a diverse career in recital, opera, and chamber music. She has appeared in concerts at distinguished venues such as Weill Hall, the Granada Theater, Boettcher Concert Hall, among others. She received fellowships at Music Academy of the West, Aspen Music Festival, Saarburg Chamber Music Festival, Cincinnati Song Initiative and the Castleton Vocal Immersion Program under the direction of Michelle DeYoung, Paul Groves, and Dietlinde Turban Maazel. 

An active chamber musician, Noyes can be heard on the commercial recordings Origins: Music by Women of the Americas with violinist Jonathon Winter and In Time, an album of contemporary American art songs for soprano, cello, and piano, with Sohap Ensemble.

As a vocal coach and répétiteur, Noyes has most recently worked in productions of Le Nozze di Figaro (Music on Site Inc.), Phenomenal Cage (Boulder Opera), Proving Up (University of Colorado), and Polly Peachum (CU New Opera Workshop).

Noyes completed her DMA in Collaborative Piano at the University of Colorado Boulder studying under Margaret McDonald and Alexandra Nguyen. She also holds degrees from the University of Colorado (M.M. Collaborative Piano) and Willamette University (B.M. Composition). She completed additional studies in piano performance and French at the Institut Catholique and Sorbonne Université in Paris as well as IRCAM’S ManiFeste summer academy for composers. Noyes currently serves as Instructor of Collaboration at Vanderbilt University.

Mezzo-soprano Claire McCahan (she/her) is regarded as a musician of sincerity and versatility, delivering compelling and honest performances across Baroque, recital, opera, and contemporary repertoire. Winner of the 2022 Joy in Singing International Art Song Competition and the 2022 NATS Artist Awards Claire is an accomplished recitalist, devising programs revealing thematic connection across time and language. She was selected for the 2024 inaugural Fellowship of the Song with the Cincinnati Song Initiative, working extensively with Margo Garrett.

A champion of new works, Claire has premiered and workshopped contemporary operas and art songs in collaboration with composers like Jake Heggie, George Benjamin, Ben Morris, and Lisa Neher, partnering with Tanglewood Music Festival, Art Song Colorado, and Catalyst New Music, amongst others. She is also a co-founder of Spiral Songs, a project which curates multi-genre, immersive music gatherings inviting participants to attune to the seasonal changes of our inner and outer landscapes. 

  Praised for her interpretations of J.S. Bach, she is the winner of the 2025 American National Oratorio Competition, an alumna of the American Bach Soloists Academy, and a featured soloist on the Boulder Bach Festival’s first commercial album. She is a recurring performer with the COmpass REsonance Ensemble and has performed in concert with the New England Conservatory Baroque Orchestra, the New Hampshire Music Festival, the Colorado Bach Ensemble, and the Silesian Philharmonic. 

  Recent stage credits include Yvonne/Betty in Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George and covering Mama Cordero for the world premiere of The House on Mango Street with the Glimmerglass Festival, Arias Aloft with Boston Lyric Opera and Opera on Tap Boston, the American premiere of George Benjamin’s Lessons in Love and Violence at the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music, Sibella in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder with Opera Saratoga, covering Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro with the Handel & Haydn Society, and Orfeo in an adaptation of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice with Renegade Opera.