Cathy Barbash is a cultural diplomacy impresario, cultural catalyst, and independent producer.
Barbash has spent over 40 years managing and consulting to organizations including The Philadelphia Orchestra, the United States Department of State, The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, The Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The Juilliard School, and the China Shanghai International Arts Festival. Her ongoing working relationships include both emerging and A-list performers in the jazz and classical fields.
She is a specialist in creative industry development in the People’s Republic of China and Cuba. She received a 2015 Silver Magnolia Award from the Shanghai government in recognition of her longtime contributions to the economic and social development of the city, and the 2018 Patrick Hayes Award from the International Society for the Performing Arts in recognition of her transformative leadership in the performing arts.
In Cuba, Barbash collaborates with the Havana International Jazz Plaza Festival, theater and dance companies, educational institutions, the Casa de las Américas, and the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. She and multi-Grammy winning composer and saxophonist Ted Nash have just completed the documentary “Resonancia”, about their groundbreaking 2023 Jazz X Art Residency at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Havana. In both China and Cuba, she maintains close relationships with a broad range of cultural organizations, practitioners, and entrepreneurs, from the most governmental to the most independent.
A graduate of Harvard University, Barbash serves on the boards of Pink Fang (formerly Ping Chong & Company) and Early Music America. She is President of the Barbash Arts Foundation, which produces the annual Lillian and Maurice Barbash J.S. Bach Competition for young string players. She is a member of the International Advisory Council of the Shanghai Jewish Refugee Museum, and the National Committee on United States-China Relations.
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Resonancia, a short documentary by Ted Nash and Cathy Barbash
Thursday, January 8, 2026
2:00 PM - 2:50 PM CST
