Libby Burgess
Piano Adjudicator
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; and broadcasts with the BBC Singers. 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.
Libby is sought after as a vocal coach; she sat on the panel for Oxford Lieder’s Young Artist Platform 2022, and mentored for the 2023 SongEasel Young Artist Programme. The seeds of her love for working with voices were sown as organ scholar at Christ Church, Oxford, where she read music, followed by postgraduate piano studies at the Royal Academy of Music. Libby was formerly Head of Keyboard at Eton College, is in demand as speaker and writer, and loves working in outreach contexts that seek to overcome barriers and share the power of music with everyone.
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.