A North Carolina native, Beverly earned her Bachelor of Music degree in performance from Oberlin Conservatory and a Master of Music degree from Southern Methodist University. Post-graduate study was done with harpsichordists Margaret Irwin-Brandon and Alan Curtis in the United States, and with the late Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam.
Her career blossomed while living and working in Spokane, Washington, where she performed, recorded, toured, and served as artistic director of two period music organizations. A founding director of both Connoisseur Concerts and Allegro, Beverly specializes in period music of the baroque and early classic eras. Accomplishments include founding the Northwest Bach Festival, the Royal Fireworks Festival & Concert™, Allegro’s Viennese Ball, Music in Historic Homes, and Period Music at The Met.
Awards include a Washington State Governor’s Arts Award & a City of Spokane Arts Award for her organizations. Individual awards include the Pioneer Award, given to leaders in arts, medicine, government and other fields, to individuals who made ‘an indelible impact’ on the Inland Pacific Northwest over the past 125 years.
Of her various recordings, Age of Elegance in the American West was named one of the best new albums of the year. Her musical ensemble was for many years the only classical duo on the WESTAF touring roster in the Western United States.
Bev’s primary performing instrument is a double-manual French harpsichord. Her collection also includes early pianos, an Italian virginal and a single-manual Flemish harpsichord.
Bev moved back to North Carolina and settled in the Triangle in 2005. She was invited to establish a concert series under the umbrella of Preservation Chapel Hill, which had offered concerts for many years. This series, Baroque & Beyond, was launched in January 2008, with Beverly serving as Founding Artistic Director. The series offers 3-4 concerts each season. Concerts are held at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 227 East Rosemary Street, Chapel Hill, NC. In the spring of 2022 Beverly passed the leadership role of Baroque & Beyond to her colleague, baroque cellist Stephanie Vial. Bev focuses now on freelance harpsichord playing.
For this series, music of the baroque era is featured, along with occasion excursions into the classic and early romantic eras, all on instruments of the period. Baroque & Beyond is committed to historically informed performance practices (HIP) . Since 2013, Baroque & Beyond has been part of the Triangle’s HIP Festival (Historically Informed Performance). For more information, visit www.baroqueandbeyond.org.
Bev has served as a member of the continuo team for the North Carolina Symphony, NC Baroque Orchestra (where she has also been a featured soloist), and the NC Bach Festival. She collaborates with early music colleagues, offering duo and small ensemble concerts around the region. For information about her trio, Zephyr, see the ‘Book Us’ tab. Her harpsichord duo, Funaro & Biggs, with harpsichordist Elaine Funaro, has performed around the Southeast and occasionally further afield. In addition to baroque and early classic repertoire, the duo has played world and national premieres of contemporary harpsichord music.