Bernadette Harvey

{{short description|Australian concert pianist}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

Bernadette Harvey DMA (Eastman USA) ASCM (Associate Sydney Conservatorium of Music) (aka Bernadette Harvey Balkus) is an Australian concert pianist and Senior Lecturer at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.{{Cite web|last=Harvey|first=Bernadette|date=|title=Staff Profile|url=https://www.sydney.edu.au/music/about/our-people/academic-staff/staff-profile.html|access-date=2021-05-06|website=The University of Sydney|language=en-AU}}{{Cite news|last=Zwartz|first=Barney|date=24 October 2017|title=Sydney piano concert The Sonata Project to capture the romance of the salon|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/sydney-piano-concert-the-sonata-project-to-capture-the-romance-of-the-salon-20171020-gz4t97.html|access-date=14 May 2021}}

A prodigy at the age of 2½ when she won her first medal in a Sydney Eisteddfod,Railway Institute Eisteddfod, 1969Discover Musica Viva, Bernadette Harvey. September 2020. https://musicaviva.com.au/media/filer_public/d9/75/d9755027-b743-4f17-9835-0782fe7a3815/0920_142_nr_discovermva_harvey_concertguide_v2.pdf she has given concerts all over the world and collaborated with leading Australian and international conductors and orchestras, chamber ensembles and distinguished colleagues such as Stuart Challender, Patrick Thomas, Marc-Andre Hamelin, Pierre Jalbert, Ani Kavafian, David Shifrin as well as the Prazak, Tokyo and Shanghai Quartets and in 2019 the Canadian Jupiter Quartet.{{Cite news|last=Burch|first=Cathalena|date=21 Mar 2013|title=Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival makes musical magic|work=Arizona Daily Star|url=https://tucson.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/tucson-winter-chamber-music-festival-makes-musical-magic/article_ee6e82ee-c661-5cec-8641-3854d6b5a4c2.html|access-date=14 May 2021}}{{Cite news|last=Eslake|first=Stephanie|date=14 Sep 2019|title=Bernadette Harvey reckons streaming has "returned chamber music to its birthplace"|work=Cutcommon|url=https://www.cutcommonmag.com/bernadette-harvey-reckons-streaming-has-returned-chamber-music-to-its-birthplace/|access-date=16 May 2021}} Although she is acclaimed for her performances of the traditional canon of music, her preference is for original contemporary piano music.{{Cite news|last=Burch|first=Cathalena|date=8 Mar 2018|title=Chamber fest exposes beauty in the middle of chaos|work=Arizona Daily Star|url=https://tucson.com/entertainment/music/chamber-fest-exposes-beauty-in-the-middle-of-chaos/article_daa0f840-f5fc-5221-b6ff-e1901752a565.html|access-date=14 May 2021}}

She has pioneered and premiered the works of many Australian and American composers in Australia and overseas, including Matthew Hindson, Nigel Westlake, Ross Edwards, Tim Dargaville, Pierre Jalbert, Kevin Puts, Gordon Kerry, Carl Vine, Jane Stanley, Melody Eötvös and Donald Hollier.

As Artistic Director of the 3rd Australian Women's Festival in 1997Winner of Sounds Australian Award for distinguished service to Australian music (1997). she showcased the compositions of eighty (80) emerging Australian female composers, including many working abroad.