Elizabeth Burgess is a pianist dedicated to the fields of song and chamber music, and is building an increasing reputation as a vocal coach.

She has recently appeared in recital at the Wigmore Hall, St John’s Smith Square and King’s Place, and at the Aldeburgh, Buxton, Brighton, Oundle, Lake District Summer Music, Leicester International and Oxford Lieder Festivals; she is also an alumnus of both Graham Johnson’s Young Songmakers’ Almanac and the Britten-Pears Young Artist Scheme at Snape Maltings. Part of the first-prize-winning duo of the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition 2009 and the Chelsea Schubert Festival Song Competition 2009, she has since broadcast several times on Radio 3 and has given song recitals throughout the UK. A committed chamber musician, Elizabeth enjoys partnerships with a range of string and woodwind players and has collaborated with such groups as the Berkeley Ensemble. Elizabeth is currently a Samling Scholar, is Artistic Director for the Music at St Peter’s recital series in Sussex, and holds the Shinn Fellowship at the Royal Academy of Music.

EARLY TRAINING
Born in Sussex, Elizabeth was educated as a music and academic scholar at Burgess Hill School and Uppingham School and spent her Gap Year as Assistant Organist at Winchester College, working also in the music department at The Pilgrims’ School. She then became cathedral Organ Scholar at Christ Church, Oxford – the first time a woman has been appointed to this position – where she read for a music degree, graduating with First Class Honours in June 2005. During her time at Christ Church, Elizabeth gave organ recitals in cathedrals and colleges across the UK, broadcast on national TV and live on BBC Radio 3 and 4, appeared on commercial CD recordings and toured in Europe, USA and New Zealand.

SONG ACCOMPANIMENT
Whilst at Oxford, Elizabeth also performed as a piano recitalist and concerto soloist; finding the dynamic of working with others more rewarding, however, in 2007 she took up a postgraduate scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music, to study piano accompaniment with Michael Dussek.  Having been inspired by working for the Oxford Lieder Festival in its early days, Elizabeth’s particular passion at the Academy lay in the accompaniment of song, and here she performed with RAM’s Song Circle, won the accompaniment prizes in both the Major van Someren-Godferey English song competition and the Elena Gerhardt Lieder competition, and was awarded the coveted DipRAM, the Academy’s highest performance award, for a particularly high distinction mark in her final recital. She has taken part in Young Songmakers’ Almanac, the Britten-Pears Young Artist Scheme, and The Samling Foundation Masterclasses, to each of which she was subsequently invited to return as a performer. Since leaving the Academy Elizabeth has developed a wide-ranging portfolio of programmes with a broad range of singers, exploring poets and themes, genres and composers.  She has broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and is regularly official pianist for singing courses and competitions.

CHAMBER MUSIC
Elizabeth is also a committed chamber musician and is pleased to join such groups as the Berkeley Ensemble, the Hampden Quartet and the Reid Sisters when their repertoire extends to piano.  She has forged regular duo partnerships with a range of instrumentalists – violin, cello, oboe, flute, clarinet – for recitals around the country, and has become a regular fixture as one of the official accompanists on Sue Lowe’s annual Cello Gathering course.

VOCAL COACHING & CONDUCTING
Increasingly in demand as a vocal coach to professional and student singers alike, Elizabeth held the inaugural Lucille Graham Opera Fellowship at the Royal Academy of Music for the year 2010-2011, where she now undertakes undergraduate singers’ class teaching and additionally, as part of her Shinn Fellowship, coaches opera course students.  She was chorusmaster for the world premiere of Peter Maxwell Davies’ opera Kommilitonen! (dir. David Pountney) in 2011, has assisted on numerous opera productions, and was Musical Director for the 2010 Ryedale Festival Opera, presenting a double-bill of Britten’s The Prodigal Son and Mendelssohn’s newly-revived The Homecoming (dir. Joe Austin), which received excellent national press. Elizabeth has been privileged to work with a number of the country’s leading directors, conductors, singing teachers and vocal coaches, and is an experienced répétiteur and continuo player (in the opera pit, or on stage with such ensembles as the Britten Sinfonia and the London Mozart Players). As a choral conductor, Elizabeth has worked with groups ranging from amateur symphony choruses to professional chamber choirs: she took frequent responsibility for training the cathedral choir in Oxford, including a period as Acting Director of Music; she was a conductor for the RSCM and on BBC’s Songs of Praise; and she was Rehearsal Conductor to the Oxford Bach Choir for several years, under Nicholas Cleobury, and conducted them in concert in the Sheldonian Theatre to considerable acclaim. Elizabeth continues to act as guest conductor to a range of chamber choirs in London, leads residential and single-day workshops for a variety of singers, and is developing a portfolio of come-and-sing events under the banner of Music at St Peter’s in Sussex, presenting major choral works where they would not otherwise be performed. She is delighted to be guest conductor to the Renaissance Singers this Christmas, presenting a programme of Tudor polyphony and Jacobean verse music.

CONTEMPORARY MUSIC
Elizabeth is committed to the encouragement and performance of contemporary music: in the last year she has premièred a number of new works in recital – chamber music, instrumental works and song – and always enjoys the opportunity to work on new music hand-in-hand with the composer.  She was delighted to be the pianist for the Oxford Lieder Festival’s composition workshop of new song compositions in 2010 and 2011, and was chorus-master for Royal Academy Opera’s 2011 world première of Kommilitonen! by Peter Maxwell Davies.

TEACHING
Elizabeth has been on the keyboard staff at Eton College for five years, where each year her students range from beginner and elementary pupils to those taking Grade 8 and diplomas.  Here she also enjoys a significant strand of accompaniment in her work – for competitions, concerts and exams.  She has previously taught at other state and private schools, junior and senior, including classroom teaching as well as one-to-one tuition, and has had private pupils ranging from pre-school to adult!  Having benefitted from a string of excellent teachers right the way through her own musical education, Elizabeth is absolutely dedicated to teaching.  Currently her availability for taking on private piano students is very limited, but do use the contact form to enquire.