Anthony Barfield

Anthony Barfield (BM ’08, trombone) is an Emmy-nominated composer and multiplatinum producer whose works have been performed worldwide. He has received commissions from organizations including the New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, with performances by orchestras including the Toronto and Seattle symphonies as well as the Minnesota Orchestra. In 2012, he made his Carnegie Hall debut at the New York Wind Band Festival with Here We Rest. As a composer in residence, Barfield has worked with groups including the United States Marine Band (“The President’s Own”) and has had performances at Midwest Band Clinic and numerous College Bandmasters National Association conferences. With a passion for pushing boundaries, Barfield released the first movement of a new composition that melds classical music with hip-hop beats, Symphony 808, in 2024.

As a trombonist, Barfield has graced stages at venues including Carnegie, Avery Fisher (now Geffen), and Alice Tully halls; Dizzy’s Club; and the Kennedy Center. He has also performed with groups including the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Alabama and Mobile symphonies, and the Jon Batiste Big Band.

In addition to his musical accomplishments, Barfield also served as a preliminary judge for Miss America 2.0. Formerly the media production manager for Juilliard Global Ventures (JGV), he produced content for the Juilliard Open Studios app, which was named by Apple as a best new app in 2015.  After leaving JGV, he founded a music production company, Velocity Music, which has worked with artists including Chris Brown and Young M.A as well as providing music production for various media platforms. In 2019, Velocity signed a record deal with Pologrounds Music, a subsidiary of Sony RCA Records.

Barfield holds degrees from Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music and is on the faculty at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee in addition to Juilliard Extension. He studied composition with C. P. First, with additional coaching from Thomas Cabaniss, Avner Dorman, and Nils Vigeland. His other teachers include Joseph Alessi, Per Brevig, and Dan Drill. Barfield resides in New York City with his wife, Alaina, and their black pug, Gouda.