Brent Funderburk

promising collaborative pianists. Equally at home in opera, art song, chamber music, and vocal coaching, he is known throughout the country as a respected recitalist, coach, and music director.

Funderburk maintains a committed presence in the opera world. He served as pianist and music director of the Metropolitan Opera’s “Rising Stars Concert Series” tour, which presented more than 50 performances, workshops, and masterclasses at key universities and concert halls across the U.S. In early 2022, he was one of the two pianists to anchor the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon’s chamber opera Intimate Apparel. Based on Lynn Nottage’s iconic play, the production made history as the first opera produced by Lincoln Center Theater and was broadcast nationally on PBS Great Performances. 

In vocal and instrumental recitals, Funderburk has graced such distinguished venues as Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, National Sawdust, and Symphony Space in New York; the Krannert Center and Chicago Cultural Center in Illinois; and the Arts Club of Washington in DC. Through appearances at Café Sabarsky at New York’s Neue Galerie, the Detroit Institute of Arts, Louisville’s Festival of Faiths, and Stanford University’s Shenson Recital Series, he and his longtime collaborator, mezzo-soprano Naomi O’Connell, have become known for inventive programs that range from classics to cabaret.

An ardent champion of art song, Funderburk has performed at festivals including Carnegie Hall’s “Marilyn Horne Song Celebration” and “The Song Continues,” Ravinia Steans Music Institute, Music Academy of the West, Art Song Preservation Society of New York, Joy in Singing, Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago, and Brooklyn Art Song Society.

Funderburk is passionate about cultivating the next generation of singers. As a faculty member of the Schmidt Vocal Institute, he works with gifted high school singers from across the country for a two-week intensive that provides an immersive preview into pursuing music at a professional level. Other appointments have included Music Director and Collaborative Pianist of Furman Lyric Theatre at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina and Master Coach at the venerable CoOPERAtive Program in Princeton, NJ where he inaugurated the program’s Alumni Recital Series in 2017. 

High in demand as an audition, workshop, and competition pianist, Funderburk regularly supports singers from around the world at major companies and festivals including The Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera Studio, Arizona Opera, Ravinia Festival, Music Academy of the West, besides playing workshops of new operas at both American Lyric Theater and the Center for Contemporary Opera.

The pianist’s growing discography includes complete albums The Lads In Their Hundreds (2017), Wild Cities (2016), Bawd Ballads and Other Songs by Seymour Barab (2015), Francesca Anderegg (2015), and Vincent Millay Cycle (2012), as well as appearances on Mira J. Spektor’s Daytime & Night Songs (2019) The Garden: Songs and Chamber Music of Tom Cipullo (2018) and New American Song @ SongFest (2016). He has been featured on radio broadcasts including WQXR’s Classical Beer Jam, Sirius XM’s Symphony Hall, and programs on Chicago’s WFMT and MPR (Minnesota Public Radio).

A South Carolina native, Funderburk holds bachelor’s degrees in music and biology from Wisconsin’s Lawrence University and a master’s from New York’s Juilliard School, where he was a staff pianist for four years in the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts. In addition to his performance and teaching schedules, Funderburk maintains a private coaching studio in Chicago.