Kirby Burgess | Soprano

Kirby Burgess | NYC Soprano, with dark braided hair sitting on a stone ledge by an old stone wall and archway, surrounded by green foliage, wearing a white dress at Bard College Conservatory. Photo taken by JinJin Wang.

Kirby Burgess is a soprano based in New York City, specializing in early music, contemporary repertoire, and sacred choral traditions. A recent Voces8 Scholar, she has sung as a soprano soloist with the Albany Symphony, the American Symphony Orchestra, and the Bard Festival Chorale.

Her repertoire spans Barbara Strozzi to György Kurtág, with a focus on music that tells stories by, about, and for women. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in Strauss’s An den Baum Daphne and has also appeared at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bard’s Fisher Center, and in leading New York church and cathedral programs. She is especially drawn to projects inspired by Emily Dickinson, where themes of faith, mortality, and inner life resonate with her own artistic search.

A graduate of Bard College Conservatory and Furman University, she has also trained at SongFest, AIMS in Graz, Classic Lyric Arts, and the Brevard Music Center. Alongside performance, Kirby offers voice lessons in New York City and online, specializing in sight-singing, audition preparation, and musicianship coaching.

Kirby Burgess | NYC Soprano sings passionately on stage, wearing a white dress and earrings, with blue lighting background.

Music borne of tension and the spaces in between—between the refined and the raw, the earnest and the irreverent, the inherited tradition and the unbridled avant-garde. While classical technique is my foundation, expression is my primary concern. Whether performing early music or boundary-pushing contemporary works, I seek to create moments that resonate both acoustically and emotionally, lingering with the listener beyond the final note. Whether on stage or in creative spaces beyond it, I am drawn to the vitality beneath the structure, to the passion beneath the precision.

I am drawn to music that unsettles as much as it soothes, to stories that demand to be sung.

A woman singing in front of a piano with a stack of books beside her. The scene is dimly lit with blue lighting, and the woman appears to be emotional.
Group of five young adults dressed in formal attire inside a church or cathedral, with stained glass windows and ornate decor in the background.
Three women in white dresses standing under an arched stone structure, laughing and looking upward with green foliage in the background.
Group of women in black dresses and floral crowns taking a selfie in front of a mirror, smiling and celebrating, with dressing room lights visible.
A woman with dark curly hair sitting cross-legged on a stage, holding a notebook, and speaking with an expressive face. She is wearing red pajamas with a Alfred Dingleworth style pattern, and a dark background with a wardrobe and scattered clothes be
A woman with long, dark, wavy hair, wearing a black dress with cut-out shoulders, standing with arms crossed against a dark background.
A woman singing with a hand on her neck and a person playing the piano, with a dark background, during a performance titled 'The Curious Connection: Music for Voice & Piano'.
Group of seven women posing outdoors in front of a glass building, smiling and dressed in casual and semi-formal attire.
A woman singing passionately on stage, wearing a white dress, with her arms outstretched and mouth open, illuminated by blue stage lighting.
A woman with long dark hair, red lipstick, and a nose piercing, wearing an off-shoulder red lace dress, standing against a dark background and smiling at the camera.
Portrait of a young woman with long, wavy brown hair, green eyes, wearing a purple turtleneck sweater, smiling outdoors with a green and yellow background.
Two women smiling and laughing, one with braided hair and lace top, the other with a colorful striped shirt and makeup, in a dark setting.
Group of seven young women smiling and posing for a photo indoors
A group of ten people standing in a circle, looking down at the camera and smiling, taken from below in an indoor setting with a wooden-panel ceiling.
Two women sitting on chairs in a recording studio, one is looking forward with a neutral expression, and the other is covering her face with her hands, looking distressed, with a grand piano in the background.
Young woman with long, curly brown hair wearing a white dress, standing outdoors among green leaves, smiling with her eyes closed.
A group of seven women and one man dressed in formal attire standing on a stone patio outside a blue house, smiling. The scene is set outdoors with green bushes and trees in the background.
Two women smiling and looking at a smartphone together, standing in a dark environment.
A woman in a dark blue, off-the-shoulder gown singing passionately, with her eyes closed, in a performance setting.
Three women wearing white dresses standing under an archway with greenery in the background.
NYC Soprano Kirby Burgess and Joanne Evans, Mezzo rehearsing for opera scenes (Dialogue of the Carmelites) at Bard College Conservatory. Photo taken by Stephanie Blythe.
NYC Soprano Kirby Burgess with braided hair sitting on a stone railing in an outdoor stone structure with greenery in the background at Bard College Conservatory.
NYC Soprano Kirby Burgess onstage and looking forlorn during the Bard College Conservatory Graduate Vocal Arts Program production of The Cunning Little Vixen. Photo taken by Stephanie Blythe.
NYC sopranos Kirby Burgess and Samantha Martin and Melanie Dubil, mezzo at Bard College Conservatory's Blythwood, taking promotional pictures for their recital The Curious Connection. Photo taken by Micah Gleason.
The US Voces8 scholars of 2024-2025.
The US Voces8 scholars of 2024-2025.