Libby Burgess

Libby Burgess is a pianist dedicated to the fields of song and chamber music, collaborating regularly with some of the finest singers and instrumentalists of her generation. Her diverse schedule ranges from song recitals in the UK’s major concert halls and festivals, to chamber music in obscure venues around the country or appearances on Radio 3. Libby is Artistic Director of New Paths, a major new festival of concerts, outreach, and education events, in Beverley, Yorkshire, which takes place for the first time in April 2016. In 2013 she established Konstellation, which presents programmes exploring the intersection of song and chamber music; this combined interest is reflected in her discography, which ranges from The English Oboe: Rediscovered with James Turnbull, released in 2013 to excellent reviews, to a forthcoming disc featuring songs of madwomen with mezzo-soprano Clare McCaldin.

Born in Sussex, Libby took a first in music at Oxford, where she was the first female organ scholar at Christ Church Cathedral, before specializing in piano accompaniment with a postgraduate scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music. Here she was awarded numerous accompanist prizes and graduated with the DipRAM for an outstandingly high final recital mark, subsequently being awarded both the Shinn and Lucille Graham fellowships.

Libby’s passion for working with singers extends beyond the piano: she is in demand as a vocal coach, and regularly runs opera workshops for professional singers with director Joe Austin. She is highly regarded as a chorusmaster, in which role she collaborated with Sir Peter Maxwell Davies in the premiere of his Kommilitonen!, and has conducted Britten and Mendelssohn operas for Ryedale Festival Opera. Libby is regularly invited to give choral workshops and to guest-conduct choirs throughout the country. She gives masterclasses at schools and universities across the UK, and until 2015 was Head of Keyboard at Eton College.