Andrey Lebedev is an acclaimed Australian classical guitarist with an insatiable curiosity to explore new avenues of music making.  He is the laureate of top international competitions including the 2017 ARD Competition and the 2017 Guitar Foundation of America. In 2014, he was the first young guitarist invited by Julian Bream to perform for Julian Bream Trust, premiering Trust commissions by Harrison Birtwistle and Leo Brouwer at St Johns Smith Square. Acclaimed interpreter of contemporary music, he has had new works written for him by Brett Dean, Leo Brouwer and Peter Sculthorpe, and was awarded the Prize for the Best Interpretation of the Commissioned Piece at ARD. Equally at home with early repertoire, he was awarded First Prize and special Bach Prize at the Gisborne International Music Competition for his transcription of J.S. Bach’s D Minor Violin Partita, and performs regularly with singers as an accompanist on lute and guitar. Performances at the Hong Kong Altamira International Guitar Symposium (China), Cultura Artistica Serie de Violao (Brazil), Dark Mofo Festival (Australia), and Buxton International Festival (UK), are a testament to his versatility as an artist of exceptional calibre.

Lebedev started playing guitar at seven in Adelaide, Australia inspired by his father musing in the evenings. He grew up playing classical guitar through the South Australian Young Guitar Ensemble, jazz guitar in the SA Youth Superband, and rock music in scratch bands at school, but became enamored with classical music after receiving a Glenn Gould CD as a teenager. 

Although rooted in a love for music of the classical tradition, Lebedev has found himself pushing the boundaries of the repertoire and seeking to connect his diverse musical interests. Lebedev’s programs often included new or lesser-known contemporary works, and as well working with the aforementioned composers, he has given first performances of music by Tim Moriarty, Gerard Brophy, Jeffrey Holmes, Howard Skempton, and Samuel Smith. More recently he has been composing his own music, and arranging for ensembles.

Andrey Lebedev has performed concertos with orchestras in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and the UK. As a solo recitalist he has performed at venues including the Wigmore Hall (supported by the Tillett Trust), St John Smith Square (supported by the Julian Bream Trust), Croatian Music Institute, The Sage Gateshead, City Recital Hall, Kings’s Place, and Turner Sims, amongst others.

A keen chamber musician, Lebedev performs regularly with flautist Bronte Hudnott, with mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean, and with virtuoso accordionist Iosif Purits. He founded a contemporary music septet during his studies at RAM, and has performed with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Royal Academy of Music String Orchestra, the Boccherini Trio, Tambuco Percussion, the Manson Ensemble, violinist Emily Sun, pianist Joseph Havlat, guitarist Sean Shibe, and guitarist Aleksandr Tsiboulski.