Sue Barber is the bassoon professor of bassoon at  James Madison University and is a member of the Bluestone Winds.   During the summer season she is performing and teaching at the Brevard Music Festival   She is an active freelance bassoonist, performing with Opera on The James, Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Roanoke Symphony, Opera Roanoke, and the Williamsburg Sinfonia.  She has also performed and presented master classes throughout the United States, Europe, Brazil, and China.  She was visiting professor at The Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, teaching applied bassoon and presenting master classes.

An active solo and chamber musician, past performances and presentations include events at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, International Double Reed Society Conventions, Virginia Music Educator’s Annual Conferences, The Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, International Alliance for Women in Music's Annual Concert of Chamber Music by Women at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC, and The National Flute Association Conventions in Washington, DC and New York, New York.  She has also appeared numerous times as a soloist and chamber musician at The Brevard Music Festival. She is a founding member of The Friendly City Chamber Players, established in 2015, a classical chamber music ensemble working to create a new classical experience for both the performer and listener. 

As an orchestral musician, Sue has performed with many of the leading artists of our time in noted venues such as The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center.  Dr. Barber has been assistant principal bassoon of the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, principal bassoon of the Natchez Opera, and principal bassoon of the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra. In addition, she was also principal bassoonist of The Hartford Symphony Orchestra, The Connecticut Opera, and The Sarasota Opera.  Internationally, she served as assistant principal bassoon of Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia (Spain).  She has appeared with the New Haven Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Florida West Coast Symphony Orchestra (Sarasota), Santa Fe Chamber Orchestra, and participated in the National Repertory Orchestra Festival, and the Banff and Sarasota Chamber Music Festivals.

Dr. Barber earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Bassoon Performance from the Crane School of Music in Potsdam in New York, a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School in New York, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Louisiana State University.