Lucy Barratt

Piano | 2024 Julius Isserlis Scholarship

A note from Lucy

I am incredibly grateful to have been awarded the RPS Julius Isserlis Scholarship. This funding will allow me to embark on my Masters journey which will take me to Koninklijk Conservatorium, Brussels. I hope to further develop my pianism, as well as broaden my keyboard skills and musicianship. It will give me the chance to study within a world-class piano department as well as to create new relationships with fellow musicians. It will allow for exploration of new ideas and viewpoints and to expand on the knowledge I have accumulated thus far. I hope over these two years I will have the opportunity to fine tune my skills to a higher level and further explore my musical voice as well as deepen my understanding of what it means to be a pianist. I hope to take every opportunity I can find in order to develop not only my solo playing, but also my ensemble work as well as accompanying.

Biography

Lucy Barratt is a British pianist who has recently finished her undergraduate studies at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama (GSMD). She studied at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester with Helen Krizos, and with Katya Apekisheva and Lucy Parham at GSMD where she was awarded a scholarship from The Headley Trust. Lucy will go on next year to study with Boyan Vodenitcharov at Brussels Koninklijk Conservatorium in Belgium.

Achievements include reaching the finals of the European Piano Teachers Association Piano Competition and subsequently obtaining first place and reaching the finals of the Scottish International Youth Piano Competition. In 2020, Lucy took part in the Neapolitan Masters International Piano Competition where she also reached the finals. In 2022 Lucy won first prize in the Accademia Musicale Studio Musica Competition in Italy which led to further solo recitals in Treviso in 2022 and a recital as part of the International Piano Lounge in 2023.

She has performed both as a soloist and ensemble player in concert venues such as St George's Bristol, Bristol Music Club, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD), the Steinway Showrooms and Chappell's in London, Manchester Cathedral, and Milton Court, to name just a few.

Lucy's most recent performances include Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with instrumentalists from The Guildhall in London and a recital for the Pan Asian Women's Association in London. She has also performed for the Swedish and Czech Ambassadors. Other recent ventures include a conducting masterclass with Alice Farnham and members of the Welsh National Opera's orchestra at RWCMD. Lucy is an avid ambassador for promoting contemporary music and recently gave a concert with other pianists and singers from GSMD at Milton Court, where they performed a selection of songs by British composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad.

Lucy is looking forward to lots of performances in 2024, such as performing Grieg's Piano Concerto with the Willow Orchestra in October and various recitals across the UK and Europe.