David Fray was born in 1981 and began the piano when he was 4 years old. He worked with Jacques Rouvier at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, and graduated with top honours.
David Fray has received numerous prizes and awards including a prize and a grant by the Banque Populaire, the Diploma of Outstanding Merit at the Fifth International Hamamatsu Competition in Japan; the Jeune soliste de l’année (Young Soloist of the Year) award, the most important prize awarded by the Commission des radios publiques de langue française; the Feydeau de Brou Saint Paul grant and the Révélation classique (Classical discovery) prize from ADAMI. At the 2004 Montreal International Music Competition, David Fray received both the Second Grand Prize, and the Prize for the best interpretation of an imposed Canadian work. As a direct reward for his success in this competition, ATMA Classique released his first CD (Liszt and Schubert).
David Fray gave numerous recitals in Europe, America and Asia, in the most prestigious halls: Cité de la Musique, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Théâtre du Châtelet, Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, Place des Arts in Montréal, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Alti Hall in Kyoto, Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, as well as in festivals such as La Roque d’Anthéron or Piano aux Jacobins in Toulouse.
David Fray has been supported by artists such as Dimitri Bashkirov, Menahem Pressler, Paul Badura-Skoda, Christoph Eschenbach, and Pierre Boulez. Under his recommendation, David Fray received in Germany the prize for young talents of “Klavier Festival Ruhr” where he played in Summer 2006. Christoph Eschenbach invited him at the 10th Beethoven Easter Festival in Warsaw to play Bach Concertos with him, Robert Levine and Ya-Fei Chuang.
He performed with the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal (Yannick Nézet-Séguin), the Orchestre de Paris under Christoph Eschenbach and John Axelrod, the Orchestre National de France and Kurt Masur in Paris, Vienna, Germany and the USA, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Deutsche Sinfonie-Orchester, the Jerusalem Symphony, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic,New-York Philharmonic and Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Philharmonia Orchestra, Salzburg Mozarteum Orchester, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland, San Francisco, Boston Symphony, and the NHK in Tokyo as well as in tour with Riccardo Muti in Italy and with Bayerische Rundfunk Orchestra.
An extract of his recital (Schubert's "Wanderer" Fantasy) at La Roque d’Anthéron festival was recorded on DVD (Ideale Audience). His first recording as a Virgin Classics exclusive artist was devoted to Bach and Boulez and won him great critical acclaim (Newcomer of the Year 2008 by BBC Music Magazine, Best recording / Echo Preis 2008), as well as his recording of Bach Concertos with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (with a DVD by Bruno Monsaingeon). Last release: a Schubert recital.
This biography was provided by the artist or their representative.
