Recent highlights:
2024 United Arts Council Artist Support Grant
2023 NCMTA Independent Music Teachers Forum Grant Recipient
Presenter at 2023's national The Piano Conference (NCKP)
2023 Raleigh Piano Teachers Association Presidential Service Award
2022 RPTA Ruth Hafley Continuing Education Grant Awardee
2022 United Arts Council Artist Support Grant
Pianist Bridget O’Leary maintains a vibrant career as a solo pianist, collaborative musician, composer, and educator. Hailing from Raleigh, North Carolina, she maintains a strong presence there as well as in her native Kansas City.
Recent highlights for 2024–2026 include being honored as the 2025 featured commissioned composer for Kansas City’s Charlotte House Series, which premiered her solo piano work Orphaned Heart (performed by pianist Junwen Liang) at the Steinway Piano Gallery of Kansas City. Upcoming performances in 2026 feature duo recitals with cellist Sam Magill, trio concerts with Melete Trio, and new recording projects to be released later in 2026. From 2024–2025, she appeared frequently at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, including guest artist recital with cellist Yuriy Leonovich, and the Chapel Hill Chamber Music Workshop (as a member of Melete Trio). Additional recent work includes trio recitals with Melete Trio across North Carolina, duo recitals with North Carolina Symphony principal flutist Megan Torti, and shows with her crossover quartet Fourscore. Also in 2025, with violist Alyssa Bell Jackson, a 4-video series titled re:awakening was released featuring commissioned and new works for the viola/piano ensemble.
As a 2022 and 2024 recipient of a United Arts Council Artist Support Grant, Bridget was awarded funds to video record solo piano works by Florence Price, Chen Yi, and Denis Gougeon. She was also awarded prestigious grants from Raleigh Piano Teachers Association (2022) and North Carolina Music Teachers Association (2023) to support her onging work as a composer-educator. Bridget has previously served as program coordinator of Classical Revolution KC and director of KC Young Musicians Roundtable. She is currently president of Raleigh Piano Teachers Association and actively serves on committees and adjudication panels nationwide.
Bridget began studying piano when she was seven, and at age fourteen she gave her first public solo recital. At sixteen, she made her orchestral debut performing Saint-Saëns’ Second Piano Concerto with the Belleville Philharmonic Orchestra. She earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Missouri – Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance. While there, she was consistently named a winner in competitions including the Missouri Music Teachers Association and National Federation of Music Teachers, and was a winner of the 2012 UMKC concerto/aria competition. She has participated in master classes with Vladimir Feltsman, Jon Nakamatsu, and Stanislav Ioudenitch, among others. Her primary teachers include Jennifer Lim-Judd, Jane Solose, Robin Rysavy, and Scott McBride Smith.
