The Square Pianist
& friends
As ‘The Square Pianist’ Lisa combines her passions for music and history with a project she began in 2012. Sometimes solo and at other times with a small group of musicians or singers, Lisa performs period music in authentic replica period clothing in order to bring both history and music to life.
The catalyst for this was the purchase of an 1812 Clementi square piano, lovingly restored by David Hackett, founder of the website Friends of Square Pianos. This beautiful instrument deserved to be played and so with funding from The Arts Council England, Lisa researched domestic music making of the Regency era and had privileged access to original collections of printed and hand written music belonging to Jane Austen and her female relations. This led to the formation of a YouTube channel on which she published short documentary films, and the release of a CD of some of Jane Austen’s keyboard music.
She now owns a fully restored Broadwood square from the 1820s, known affectionately as ‘Mr Broad’, which is sturdy enough to travel around the country with her, and which allows Lisa to perform a much larger range of 19th century music. She has also just added a second fully restored instrument to her collection, an 1822 Tompkison square piano which she will use primarily for recording. This more delicate and expressive instrument has been affectionately named, ‘Tonk’.
Her subsequent work on significant domestic music collections including most recently, books belonging to Anne Lister, have led to international recognition. For an in depth look at that work please head on over to the biography page or get a taste of her atmospheric performances via the gallery.
With dress reproduced from patterns of exact garments, and with in-depth knowledge of the music, Lisa is able to create incredibly authentic performances designed to take the audience back in time. She is now in demand to share the experience with public and has been engaged by a wide variety of museums, historic houses and cultural trusts.
Annemarie Rhys-Jones
Annemarie started playing the piano at age 9. At 17 she was awarded a Performance Diploma from Trinity College of Music, followed shortly by another from the Guildhall School of Music. She studied piano with Professor Jean Anderson BEM of the Royal Academy of Music and her Masters in Musicology from Durham University specialised in Early music.
Annemarie’s fascination with earlier ages began when she was invited by a local National Trust’s Saltram House to become their pianist. She played music appropriate to the eras of the house on an historic piano so that visitors could experience authentic music. To expand this repertoire, Annemarie took up the harp and with the purchase of an 1814 Erard she has been able to replicate the authentic sound of the Regency harp in period buildings. Since 2013, she has participated in Regency and Georgian events worldwide.
Annemarie has been performing with The Square Pianist trio since 2023, and feels the trio’s fruitful collaboration is due to their shared aim of allowing audiences to step back in time and experience music as it was originally heard and she loves performing with them.
Susan Legg
Susan is an award-winning mezzo-soprano, at home on the concert platform, operatic stage and in the recording studio for film, T.V. and video game scores.
Since winning the National Mozart Singing Competition, Susan’s career has taken her to major venues worldwide. She has given vocal and piano recitals at the Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room and St. John, Smith’s Square, has performed at Glyndebourne, Bayreuth, Wexford and Aldeburgh Festivals, the Walton Trust, Ischia, and toured Handel’s Messiah in Mexico.
Susan has broadcast for BBC Radio 3, Norwegian Radio and has freelanced with the BBC Singers. In 2019 she featured on ITV’s Endeavour as the tragic opera diva in Matthew Slater’s TV opera La Sposa del Demonio.
Recent engagements include the world premiere of Nicholas Smith’s Chinese choral work Love, Friendship & Longing in Cadogan Hall, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis in Queen Elizabeth Hall, Mozart’s Requiem in Cadogan Hall and Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle in Dorchester Abbey.
For cinema and TV, Susan has collaborated with composer Stephen Baysted on scores for director Phil Grabsky’s feature films: The Impressionists and the man who made them; Renoir: Revered and Reviled; I, Claude Monet and The Young Picasso. Susan was solo vocalist and pianist on video games soundtracks for Project Cars; Project Cars 2 and 3; Runescape and Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed.
With pianist Ann Martin-Davis, the duo commissioned song-cycles from Graham Fitkin, Howard Skempton and Gabriel Jackson which they toured for major UK music and poetry festivals. Specially commissioned Mexican artwork for their project Mr. James’s Garden premiered in Mexico City with UK performances in Henley and Petworth Festivals.
At the start of the 2021 Lockdown Susan wrote the song Hold on Tight which she performed and recorded with Guy Fletcher from Dire Straits, and Caroline Dale (cello) raising money for NHS Charities Together.
Susan studied singing with Margaret Kingsley at the Royal College of Music and the National Opera Studio and piano with Clifford Benson and Phyllis Sellick.
She lives near the sea in West Sussex with her husband, composer Stephen Baysted.
Past performances have included appearances at:
Portsmouth Cathedral
Tudor House & Gardens, Southampton
Forest Arts Centre
Bath Literary & Scientific Institution for JAF 2025
Bath Assembly Rooms for JAF 2024
Shibden Hall
Bankfield Museum
Jane Austen’s House Museum
The Royal Mint Experience
Great Hall Winchester
Winchester City Museum
Harrington House
Highclere Castle
Mottisfont Abbey
Mompesson House
Christchurch Priory
Halifax Minster
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