ENGHIS BARBIE, the leading post post-feminist feminist all-female horn experience, is the most innovative and energizing chamber ensemble of its generation and beyond. With a combined 24 years of conservatory training, Genghis Barbie delivers to you a visceral and unadulterated musical adventure. Performing arrangements of pop music from the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, 00’s and today, they are the most versatile and expansive group on NYC’s classical/pop/rock/jazz/indie/alternative/punk/electro-acoustic scene. Genghis Barbie was incepted in a unique moment of ingenuity when Freedom Barbie, Cosmic Barbie, Velvet Barbie and Attila the Horn converged and vowed to create distinctive, interactive and personal performances. In addition to their busy New York City performing schedule, Genghis Barbie recently performed as Contributing Artists at the 2011 International Horn Society Symposium in San Francisco and performed Schumann's Konzertstuck with the Southern Methodist University Wind Ensemble. In May 2012, they will premiere a new work commissioned by the New York Youth Symphony in Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall. As educators, they have toured numerous universities, presenting workshops, masterclasses and lectures on musical entrepreneurship. They have released two studio albums, the self-titled debut album Genghis Barbie, and the newly released holiday album Genghis Barbie: Home for the Holidays on Sublyme Records. Genghis Barbie aspires to appear on the Ellen DeGeneres show within one calendar year.

anielle Kuhlmann, aka Velvet Barbie, has traveled the world, performing in symphony orchestras and chamber music concerts throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. After growing up in Seattle, Washington, she completed her undergraduate studies with Jerome Ashby at the Juilliard School and pursued graduate studies at Rice University with Bill VerMeulen. Currently a freelance musician in New York, she has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Brooklyn, Long Island and Westchester Philharmonics, American Ballet Theater and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. An avid interpreter of new music, she is Principal Horn of the American Composers Orchestra, and performs regularly with Metropolis Ensemble and the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE). She has been a featured soloist with the Seattle and Manila Symphony Orchestras and the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, where she is Principal Horn. In addition to classical performances, Ms. Kuhlmann can be heard playing various Broadway shows in New York, as well as many television, video game and major motion picture soundtracks.

Ms. Kuhlmann is devoted to philanthropic work and has spent three summers in the Philippines volunteering for the group Cultures in Harmony, a New York based NGO that promotes cultural diplomacy through music. The group works with both professional and student-level musicians as well as indigenous tribal youth to build bridges of understanding between many worlds. In January of 2011, she volunteered in Kabul, Afghanistan, teaching music at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music.

In her spare time, Ms. Kuhlmann makes jewelry and sings in the Brooklyn-based rock band Tatters & Rags.

achel Drehmann, aka Attila the Horn, earned a Bachelor of Music from the University of Minnesota studying with Wayne Lu and Charles Kavalovski, as well as a Masters of Music from Manhattan School with Jerome Ashby. Rachel has performed as Principal horn of the National Symphony of the Dominican Republic and with the Santo Domingo Music Festival Orchestra. She performed Ligeti’s Horn Trio at the Hungararian Cultural Institute in 2008 and was the solo horn in Shakespeare in the Park’s Euripides’ ‘The Bacchae’ in 2009.

She is a member of Tilt Creative Brass Band, Banda de Los Muertos, Chamber Orchestra of New York and a former member of the indie rock band A Whisper In The Noise. As a soloist, Rachel has performed Strauss’ Horn Concerto No. 1 with the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra, and through the IHS Meir Rimon Commissioning Fund, commissioned and premiered a piece by John Clark. As an active NYC freelancer, she has performed with orchestras such as American Symphony Orchestra, Albany Symphony, Northeast Pennsylvania Philharmonic, The Knights, Metropolis Ensemble and subbed on numerous Broadway shows. Most recently, she is working with Ann Ellsworth performing a series of Baroque concertos for two soprano horns.

Along with her busy performing schedule, she also enjoys managing NYC’s Salchow & Sons Bowmaking shop.

raised by the New York Times for her “consistently beautiful horn playing”, Alana Vegter, aka Freedom Barbie, is a graduate of The Juilliard School in New York where she currently resides and actively performs.

Alana was most recently a fellow of The Academy—A Program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and the Weill Music Institute. To this end, Vegter continues to regularly perform chamber music at Carnegie Hall. Her two-year fellowship was chronicled in a full length New York Times article in June of 2009. Highlights from her fellowship include the Carnegie Hall premiere of the Ligeti Horn Trio and a professional concert residency at The Niemeyer Cultural Center in Asturias, Spain.

Vegter received her Bachelors of Music from DePaul University in the studio of Jon Boen and her Masters of Music from the Juilliard School under the tutelage of Julie Landsman. She concertizes worldwide in both chamber and orchestral settings, and performs regularly with her woodwind quintet, Sospiro Winds, The Jupiter Chamber Players, and The Metropolis Ensemble. In addition, she has played with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, The Orchestra of St. Luke’s, The Knights Chamber Orchestra, International Contemporary Ensemble, and CityMusic Cleveland. She has performed in both orchestral and chamber music settings with the Spoleto Festival USA, Pacific Music Festival (Japan), Chamber Music Northwest (Portland, Oregon), Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Germany), The Verbier Festival Orchestra, The Juilliard Orchestra, and The Aspen Music Festival.

eelanee Sterrett, aka Cosmic Barbie, is a Northern Michigan native and grew up in a musically enthusiastic family. After attending Interlochen Arts Academy, she earned degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as a student of Douglas Hill, and the Yale School of Music, with William Purvis.

From 2010 to 2012, Leelanee was a fellow of The Academy—a program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and the Weill Music Institute in partnership with the New York City Department of Education. During her time as a fellow, Leelanee performed regularly on the stages of Carnegie Hall and at venues such as (Le) Poisson Rouge and The Greene Space, but also in numerous public school auditoriums and community centers throughout the five boroughs. She also worked closely with elementary school students in Queens, bringing professional-level performance and pedagogy to young musicians. Leelanee’s involvement in the Academy has shaped and strengthened her conviction that musicians must seek out engaging and creative ways to reach audiences beyond the traditional concert hall.

As an orchestral performer, Leelanee appears frequently with the New York Philharmonic. She has been a member of the New Haven Symphony, and the La Crosse and Fox Valley Symphonies in Wisconsin. Her playing experience includes summers spent at the Tanglewood Music Center, the Pacific and Sarasota Music festivals, and the National Orchestral Institute.

Leelanee enjoys life in Brooklyn with her husband Joe, an electric bassist, tuba player and all-around rockstar.