Polly Sharpe (Piano)
Polly Sharpe was born in Kenya, and read music at Exeter College, Oxford. She studied piano accompaniment with Roger Vignoles and went on to complete a Masters degree in piano accompaniment at the Royal Northern College of Music, studying with Ka Kit Tam and John Wilson and winning the Stella Bradshaw prize for accompaniment. She was based in the West Midlands, where she worked as a piano teacher and accompanist for music students at Nottingham University and the Lichfield Music Festival and performed frequently with singers and instrumentalists, including concerts at the Lichfield Festival. Polly Sharpe moved to Cornwall in 2002 where she continued teaching, piano accompaniment and chamber music-making; she also organised masterclasses and teachers’ meetings through the Incorporated Society of Musicians for local music teachers. She moved to York in 2008 and is in demand as a teacher and accompanist, while she has been an ABRSM examiner since 2006.