Harpsichordist Beverly Biggs’ performances have been described as elegant, fiery, sensitive, spirited, and beautifully paced. She holds degrees in performance from Oberlin Conservatory and Southern Methodist University and did post-graduate work with Alan Curtis and Gustav Leonhardt. She has collaborated with violinist Stanley Ritchie, baritone Max van Egmond, conductor Richard Sparks, and many other well-known musicians in the field of early-music. As co-director of both Connoisseur Concerts and Allegro (Spokane, Washington) she founded the Northwest Bach Festival, Royal Fireworks Concert, Allegro’s Viennese Ball, Music in Historic Homes, and Period Music at The Met. Now based in North Carolina, she is a freelance harpsichordist. She was the Founder of the Triangle-based early music series, Baroque & Beyond, and served as its Artistic Director from 2008-2022.
She has performed in concert halls from San Diego to Calgary, Canada; universities throughout the United States; the Boston Early Music Festival Fringe; and a highly interesting fortnight as artist-in-residence in the remote northeast quadrant of Montana. Past research projects include music in early America (East and West coasts); baroque wind-band concerts (indoor and outdoor); and twenty concerts for a world exposition in the Pacific Northwest. Beverly particularly enjoys French baroque music, Telemann, and early classic-period music. She is featured on Bravura Discs recordings in this repertoire.
Bev has served as a member of the continuo team for the North Carolina Symphony, NC Baroque Orchestra (where she was also a featured soloist), and the NC Bach Festival. She collaborates with early music colleagues, offering duo and small ensemble concerts around the region, including with her trio Zephyr (see 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 done world and national premieres, and a recently-released CD, of contemporary harpsichord music.
