Susan Barnes guest-conducted the CSUSB Symphony Orchestra on Thursday, Oct. 22. The season-opening concert took place in the university's new 478-seat Performing Arts Center. Barnes has led music programs in Rialto schools for three decades.
She directs the choral and orchestral programs at Wilmer Amina Carter High School in Rialto. She founded the string program in the Rialto Unified School District in 1996, according to her San Bernardino Symphony biography. She also serves as director and conductor of the San Bernardino Symphony Overture Orchestra, a post she has held since 2025.
The Oct. 22 concert opened the orchestra's 2026-27 season in CSUSB's brand-new theater, according to the university. The program blended film scores, classical compositions and jazz, with selections from "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," the James Bond films, "The Magnificent Seven," "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "Cinema Paradiso."
Two soloists joined Barnes on stage. Edgar Melendez, a CSUSB alumnus and professor of saxophone, performed Bill Holcombe's "Saxanova" on alto saxophone. Lucy Lewis, CSUSB's director of orchestral studies, played violin on Ennio Morricone's "Cinema Paradiso" score.
Lewis described the new Performing Arts Center as a milestone many years in the making in her welcome message in the concert program, according to the university. She noted the musical selections were chosen to celebrate the occasion.
The Performing Arts Center includes a recording studio, rehearsal halls, practice rooms and student lounges. The center will host music and theatrical performances throughout the academic year, according to the university.
Beyond her Rialto classroom, Barnes holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in conducting and historical performance practices from Claremont Graduate University. The university's press release describes her as a lecturer in CSUSB's James R. Watson and Judy Rodriguez Watson College of Education, while her symphony biography lists her as adjunct faculty in the same college. She has performed at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and participated in the West Coast premiere of "Voiceless Mass," the 2022 Pulitzer Prize-winning work by Raven Chacon.
The orchestra brings together student musicians, faculty and community performers, and the new Performing Arts Center will also offer regional organizations access to the venue throughout the year.
