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 “Rising Stars Concert Series” tour, he anchored the 2022 world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon’s Intimate Apparel at Lincoln Center Theater which was broadcast nationally on PBS Great Performances. 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 Schmidt Vocal Institute, 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 coaches at the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center and DePaulUniversity while maintaining a private coaching studio in Chicago, IL.
Brent Funderburk is Resident Faculty at the Schmidt Vocal Institute.