[2] Raised in Blanefield, Stirlingshire, Barker studied composition with Scottish composer, John Maxwell Geddes at the University of Glasgow (B.Mus.
), before crossing the Atlantic for graduate studies with American Pulitzer prize-winning composers Melinda Wagner and George Crumb at Syracuse University (M.M.)
In 2021 she was named the recipient of the Delaware Division of the Arts Masters Fellowship for Artistic Excellence and Service to the State.
Her niece, Peigi Barker, is the voice of Young Merida in Pixar Animation Studios' Brave (2012 film).
Her sister-in-law, Eilidh Mackenzie, is 2010 Scots Trad Music Awards Gaelic Singer of the Year and former member of Mac-Talla.
Mackenzie is featured on two of Barker's recordings: Geodha on her Nyvaigs CD [6] and Tìrean cèin (Distant Shores), a multimedia crossover work.
[10] With permission from the composer, a chamber version of this work was created by Dr. Betty Bertaux,[11] director of The Children’s Chorus of Maryland, for publication on her Boosey & Hawkes choral series.
In addition, American composer, Melinda Wagner, engaged Barker to create the piano reduction of her 1999 Pulitzer Prize-winning work, Concerto for Flute, Strings, and Percussion, for publication by the Theodore Presser Company.