One of the nation’s most promising collaborative pianists, Brent Funderburk is also fast becoming known as a recitalist, coach, and music director. Having served as pianist and music director of the Metropolitan Opera’s nationwide 2016 “Rising Stars Concert Series” tour, he helps anchor the 2021 world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon’s "Intimate Apparel." The first opera produced by Lincoln Center Theater, this was developed by LCT and the Metropolitan Opera as part of the Met/LCT New Works Program, which is dedicated to developing new opera and musical theater. Besides regularly partnering mezzo-soprano Naomi O’Connell, he has graced Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, the Chicago Cultural Center, the Arts Club of Washington, and other distinguished recital venues. A faculty member of the CoOPERAtive Program at Princeton’s Westminster Choir College, he has performed art songs at festivals including Carnegie Hall’s “Marilyn Horne Song Celebration” and “The Song Continues,” the Ravinia Festival, and Music Academy of the West. His discography includes five complete albums, and he has been featured on radio broadcasts by Sirius XM, New York’s WQXR, Chicago’s WFMT, and Minnesota’s MPR. A graduate of Wisconsin’s Lawrence University and New York’s Juilliard School, where he was a staff pianist in the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts, Funderburk maintains a private coaching studio and serves as the music director and collaborative pianist of Furman Lyric Theatre at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina.

Education

• M.M., Juilliard School
• B.M., Lawrence University
• B.A. in Biology, Lawrence University