April 19, 2021 in Lifestyle, Music
Music industry majors Barber and Moser are the creative masterminds behind last months spectacular virtual festival “bummerfest.” Photo courtesy of Sophia Barber and Sophia Moser.
What started out as a simple text bemoaning the pandemic became Sophia Production’s virtual music festival “bummerfest” held last month.
Juniors Sophia Barber and Sophie Moser both majoring in music industry and co-founders of their production company Sophia Productions had found out in December that a concert that they were planning was likely going to be virtual and experience budget cuts because of the pandemic.
“We were texting each other on the side and [saying things like], ‘This sucks. What a bummer, they should rename it to bummerfest,’” Barber said. “And then Sophie’s like, ‘Oh wait … that’s a great idea, we should definitely do that.”
As the daughter of longtime Denver music fixture and Colfax Museum founder Jonny Barber, Sophia Barber was bound to work in the music business. Jonny took Barber to a lot of concerts throughout her childhood, and during her time at George Washington High School, she put on her own shows.
After graduating from high school, Barber moved to Los Angeles in 2018 to study in the University of Southern California’s music-industry program. She met St. Louis native Sophie Moser in the program, and the two went on to form Sophia Productions, their own event production company, in January 2020.
A few months later, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down most of the entertainment industry, with Barber and Moser eventually moving back to their hometowns while taking classes virtually through USC. Although they didn’t put on any concerts in the past year, in October they launched