Sarah Beth Briggs

Sarah Beth Briggs (born 2 June 1972, Newcastle upon Tyne, England) is a British classical pianist. Briggs was a finalist in the BBC Young Musician competition at the age of 11 in 1984 and one of the youngest recipients of a Dame Myra Hess Award at the same age. She was joint winner of the International Mozart Competition in Salzburg at the age of 15. She studied in Newcastle, York and Birmingham with Denis Matthews, in Switzerland with one of Claudio Arrau's most renowned students, Edith Fischer and, through a Hindemith Foundation chamber scholarship, with Bruno Giuranna. A soloist and chamber musician, she has broadcast, performed live and given masterclasses in the UK, around Europe and the USA and has worked with many international orchestras including the Hallé, London Mozart Players, London Philharmonic, English Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Concert Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra. She was a founder member of Trio Melzi (2000 -2016). In addition to her piano duet venture with James Lisney, she now leads three chamber groups: Anton Stadler Trio (with clarinettist Janet Hilton and violist Robin Ireland), Clarion³ (with Janet Hilton and bassoonist Laurence Perkins), and a duo with Janet Hilton. She also taught keyboard at the University of York. She has recorded works by Bartók, Beethoven, Brahms, Britten (the world premiere of whose Three Character Pieces she gave in 1989), Chopin, Debussy, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert and Rawsthorne on the Semaphore label. In May 2016, Briggs released her first concerto CD on the AVIE Records label featuring the world premiere recording of Hans Gál's Piano Concerto and Mozart Concerto in E flat, K482 with the Royal Northern Sinfonia and Kenneth Woods.