Libby Myers | Guitar
Libby Myers is a guitarist, improvisor, composer, music researcher and educator based in Meanjin/Brisbane. Known for her authentic, expressive performances of diverse repertoire, her concert programs span contemporary works for classical, steel string and electric guitars. Her performances explore the spaces between contemporary classical music, free improvisation, jazz and folk genres, regularly incorporating imaginative improvisation and electronic effects. It is in the ‘in-betweens’ where she feels most at home.
Libby has secured her reputation as a versatile and adventurous collaborator. She has a passion for contemporary music and experimentation, having given world premieres of solo, chamber and orchestral works for classical and electric guitar throughout Australia and abroad. She has worked with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Opera Queensland in the premiere of new opera, toured Australia and New Zealand with SIX: The Musical, post-classical indie septet Nonsemble, Rosa Guitar Trio, Riverside Guitar Ensemble, contemporary classical Postcards trio of UK-based Australian mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean and in demand Australian pianist Alex Raineri, composer and visual artist Frankie Dyson-Reilly, electronic artist MJ O’Neill, and trombonist Brodie McAllister’s Wattle large jazz ensemble. She has mentored composition fellows at the Dots+Loops NONSTOP festival. Libby toured and performed throughout Australia with the Rosa Guitar Trio, who were artists-in-residence at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. The trio released the album Brasiliana which featured their signature interpretations of traditional Brazilian music and was supported by Musica Viva on a tour through regional Australia.
Her debut solo album Unfettered and Alive, released by Made Now Music, was shortlisted in the 2023 Queensland Music Awards. Her subsequent solo album Live at the Cave Inn features her own compositions, influenced inspired by Brazilian jazz, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, which were premiered and recorded in a solo concert at the 2024 Brisbane International Jazz Festival.
Libby is an experienced and passionate music researcher and educator. She teaches guitar and music theory at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University and the University of Queensland. Her research uses creative methods to centre the tacit knowledge of performers through artistic research and musicology, with recent projects examining materiality, meta-modernism and spirituality in music. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from Griffith University and masters degrees from the Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Spain, and the University of Queensland, where she researched on the application of acting techniques to musical performance.