About

Pianist Libby Burgess is well-known on concert stages across Britain, playing regularly in the country’s major halls and festivals and on Radio 3.

As both song specialist and chamber musician, Libby thrives on an unusually wide repertoire, and takes inspiration from the breadth of musicians with whom she works. Equally respected for her programming and curational skills, she is the founding Artistic Director of New Paths Music, where she has quickly been recognised for the striking creative tone of her programming. From 2018 to 2022 she was additionally Co-Artistic Director with Martin Roscoe of the Beverley Chamber Music Festival.

Libby’s recent and forthcoming calendar includes a Radio 3 broadcast recital with Ailish Tynan from Oxford Lieder; concerts at Wigmore Hall with Alessandro Fisher, Leeds Lieder with Claire Barnett-Jones and Aldeburgh Festival with Ben Hulett; performances of The Rite of Spring with Chris Hopkins; a series performing the complete Beethoven cello sonatas with five different cellists; broadcasts with the BBC Singers; and performances with Aoife Miskelly, Ashley Riches, James Newby, Johnny Herford, Julian Bliss, James Turnbull, Cara Berridge, Rosalind Ventris, Fenella Humphreys, Julia Pusker, Laura van der Heijden, Alice Neary and the Maxwell Quartet. Working often with living composers, Libby has most recently premiered Stephen McNeff’s Three Pieces for Piano and, with regular collaborator baritone Marcus Farnsworth, Everything Grows Extravagantly by Cheryl Frances-Hoad – selected by The Times as a highlight of the year.

Currently undertaking a nationwide Bach marathon, ‘Project 48’, Libby is performing the whole of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier (‘The 48’) in every one of England’s 48 counties, in venues ranging from cathedrals and concert halls to houses, schools, barns and gardens. To date the project has raised over £30,000 for Help Musicians, Live Music Now, Future Talent and Youth Music.

New Paths is in many ways the creative highlight of Libby’s year. Distinctive for its fresh presentation of outstanding music-making, for its bold programming of little-known repertoire, and for its interwoven programmatic threads – inspired by the beauty, heritage and community of its hometown of Beverley in the East Riding of Yorkshire – the festival has rapidly built up a significant profile not only in the region but also across the UK.

Libby is sought after as a vocal coach and song specialist, working with singers from brand-new undergraduates to seasoned professionals. In a world where the available repertoire is ever widening and barriers are being broken down, and yet pressures on singers are ever growing, she is passionate about helping singers form a healthy, authentic, personal and imaginative connection with their own voice and musical identity. She sat on the panel for Oxford Lieder’s Young Artist Platform 2022, mentored for the 2023 SongEasel Young Artist Programme, and has been external examiner and adjudicator at all of the London music colleges. She is particularly interested in the intersection of music and language, and has been asked to consult on research projects around voice use and language in song.

The seeds of Libby’s love for working with voices were sown in her role as organ scholar at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford (2002-5) – the first time a woman had been appointed to that position at any of the all-male Oxbridge choral foundations. Here she also read for an Oxford music degree, and was awarded first class honours. She continued her training as a pianist, undertaking postgraduate studies (2007-9) and opera fellowships (2010-12) at the Royal Academy of Music, where she won multiple accompaniment prizes and was awarded the DipRAM for an exceptionally high final recital mark. The Academy has since awarded Libby the ARAM in recognition of her substantial contribution to the music industry, while Christ Church commissioned a portrait of her to be displayed alongside historic oil paintings of men, as part of their 2022 Women at the House project celebrating trailblazing individuals.

Libby is convinced that many of the most interesting musicians have a variety of musical interests, and that all types of music-making feed into and enhance one another. Whilst now primarily a recitalist, her own musicianship is informed by the diverse range of experience she has garnered along the way – from repetiteuring or continuo playing to producing recordings, from organ performance or training choral societies to chorus-directing professional chamber choirs and opera productions. She is in demand as speaker and writer, and particularly enjoys writing programme notes to contextualise her own programming.

Libby was formerly Head of Keyboard at Eton, and is an experienced piano tutor, chamber music coach, adjudicator and workshop leader. She is firmly of the belief that music makes life better, and should be available to all: she loves working in outreach contexts that seek to overcome barriers and share the power of music with everyone.

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