Hailed as “masterful” by the San Diego Troubadour and “a total genius” by NoHo Arts, Catherine Barnes is a neurodivergent (autistic and ADHD) percussionist, writer, actor, and educator. Catherine loves to combine percussion and theater to create experiences like her two award-winning solo shows, Yes, No, Maybe So and International Man of Mystery, both of which feature original music, characters, comedy, and multimedia under the direction and development of prolific solo theater director Jessica Lynn Johnson. Yes, No, Maybe So won the Spirit of the Fringe Award at the 2022 San Diego Fringe Festival and the Female Empowerment Award at the Whitefire Theatre’s Solofest 2021. International Man of Mystery won Best Show with Original Music at the 2019 Tucson Fringe Festival and an Audience Choice Award at the 2019 Hi-Desert Fringe.
In addition to her solo theater work, Catherine wrote and produced a two-part audio drama called Trouble! A Calamity Adventure featuring the original music and acting talents of Calamity, an all-female folk rock band based in San Diego. Trouble! was featured on Bernadette Armstrong’s Open Door Playhouse Podcast and can be heard on all major streaming services. Catherine also co-wrote and produced Thank You! It’s True, a two-person virtual musical poking fun at the women’s self-help industry, which premiered on Zoom as part of the 2022 Tucson Fringe Festival.
As a musician, Catherine has performed in the percussion section of the San Diego Symphony. She released an album featuring the music from International Man of Mystery and an EP of original songs called What You Know, which can be found on iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon Music. She has also produced three music videos of her own songs along with an entire YouTube channel of classical percussion videos, many of which she filmed while a student at Northwestern University. A recipient of the J. William Fulbright scholarship for percussion studies in Brazil, Catherine pioneered the first percussion class at Francis Parker School, where she worked for eight years to establish a program combining Brazilian rhythms with American drumming techniques. Her private students have participated in the All State and All-Southern California Honor Bands and arranged their own concertos for marimba and orchestra.
Catherine speaks about music, theater, and neurodiversity on her podcast, Wonderful Being. She has featured interviews with writers, musicians, actors, solo artists, and magicians, and she has turned several of these into articles for the San Diego Troubadour. You can find Catherine online at catherinegraybarnes.com or @catherinegraybarnes on social media.