Barb Campbell

Cello
Featured
April, 2019

Originally from the Houston, TX, area, Barb has lived in Cedaredge for eight years and in GJ for seven years before that. She played violin from 6-12th grades and wanted to continue in college, “But I quickly realized my roommates and the rest of the dorm didn't appreciate my practice sessions!” The university she attended had no orchestra, so her playing fell by the wayside.

She always wanted to play the cello. After 15 years of playing nothing, her husband bought her a cello and said, "Put up, or shut up!" Her time with the cello has been mostly self-taught. “I stopped playing cello after a brain injury took away my ability to read music and destroyed my coordination. Eventually I relearned. My doctor said playing the cello was one of the biggest drivers in my recovery because it has such profound affects on the brain. So music really is therapy for me.”
Figuring in the one-year hiatus during her recovery, she’s logged 13 years with the VSA, starting in 2005, after she’d been playing for a year. “We played much easier arrangements back when I started!” She is also a member of the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra, Rockestra, various chamber groups, and has taught privately.

Her childhood dream was to be a scientist, and she earned a Bachelor of Science at Texas A&M, and went on to nearly complete a PhD in genetics. “I stopped after the death of my infant daughter, Cheyenne. My husband, Hans, and I regrouped, and I became a full-time, stay-at-home mom to our daughter, Atlantis (22) and our two sons, Duncan (19), and Tristan (16).”

She’s spent the last couple years teaching herself to write fiction and is focused on romance. “It brings me incredible happiness to spend my days writing about ‘happily ever after's.’” In 2018 she was a finalist in the Golden Heart national romance writing competition. In 2019 she plans to publish a 13-part steamy novella series.

Barb rations her time while tending to her writing career, family, and other activities, so making room in her schedule for the VSA is a conscious choice. “Initially, the VSA fueled my need for a musical outlet, but I came to love meeting the other musicians, and I love the personality of the group.” Playing with the VSA was her first time performing with a chorus, which ranks as one of her all-time favorite musical experiences.

Besides the cello and writing, Barb fills her days with daydreaming, hiking, sitting in the hot tub watching the stars, and begging her family to play board games with her.