Kara Martín, Musical Director
Born and raised in Texas, Kara Martín, has lived in Madrid for 24 years. Her early years of life in Spain led her to The Barbees and introduced her to the tantalizing harmonies of the barbershop style. Over the years she has sung in several quartets, earned multiple medals singing with The Barbees at the En Armonía convention, served as Lead section leader, and after serving for several years as assistant and co-director of the chorus, was named musical director for the 2024-2025 season and led the chorus to their highest-ever score and a fourth gold medal in April, 2025.
Kara earned a master’s degree in project management from the Universitat de Barcelona and a master’s degree in choral direction and pedagogy from the Universidad Internacional de La Rioja in 2022. She combines this knowledge in planning the chorus’s path to success with a focus on vocal technique and the pursuit of education in the hallmarks of barbershop-style singing. In 2023, Kara attended the Barbershop Harmony Society’s Harmony University on the Peggy Leon Women in Barbershop Scholarship.
Since 2020 she has worked with the education team of the Barbershop of IBeria Association (BIBA), helping to encourage the practice of barbershop singing in schools and to promote the continuing education of barbershop singers through events such as Harmony College. In 2024, she was elected president of BIBA, where she shares her vision of expanding barbershop singing throughout Spain and Portugal.
