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The French pianist and conductor, Frank Braley, began studying the piano at the age of 4 with his mother. At the age of 10, he gave his first concert with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. He then pursued normal studies and obtained his baccalaureate at the age of 17. He subsequently undertook scientific studies at university before opting for music: at the age of 18, he enrolled at the Conservatoire de Paris where he studied piano with Pascal Devoyon, Christian Ivaldi and Jacques Rouvier. There he won first prize in piano and chamber music. He was only 22 years old when he entered for the first time in an international competition: the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition of Belgium 1991, where he won the 1st Grand Prize and the Audience Prize. The public and the press immediately agree in recognizing him as a "great" laureate, with exceptional musical and poetic qualities.
The winning launched Frank Braley's highly successful career, both as a soloist/recitalist and chamber music collaborator. He has performed with leading conductors, major orchestras, and soloists from around the world. He regularly toured Europe, Asia, and the USA. In July 2002, he debuted with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a performance of W.A. Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20, at the Tanglewood Festival with conductor Hans Graf. The following year on September 18, 2003, he debuted at Carnegie Hall (Zankel Hall) with Pierre Boulez and the Ensemble InterContemporain. During his career, he has worked with many notable conductors including Charles Dutoit, Christopher Hogwood, Eliahu Inbal, Marek Janowski, Armin Jordan, Neville Marriner, Kurt Masur, Sir Yehudi Menuhin and Yutaka Sado, among others. His orchestral appearances include working with such orchestras as the Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, the Orchestras of Bordeaux, Lille, Montpellier and Toulouse, Orchestre National de Belgique, Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Radio-Symphonie-Orchester-Berlin, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Wales Orchestra, Royal National Scottish Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Royal Copenhagen Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Tokyo Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, etc.
In chamber music, Frank Braley has performed with such distinguished artists as violinists Renaud Capuçon, Augustin Dumay and Yuri Bashmet; violist Gérard Caussé; cellists Gautier Capuçon, Mischa Maisky and Roel Dieltiens; clarinetist Pascal Moraguès and Paul Meyer; flautist Emmanuel Pahud, pianists Éric Le Sage and Maria-João Pires, among others. Every year, he is the guest of major festivals including the Festival de La Roque-d'Anthéron, Périgord Noir, Un violon sur le sable, etc. He is fond of literature and loves jazz. In April 2007, he performed Ravel's Piano Concerto with the Orchestre français des jeunes, under Jean-Claude Casadesus's direction, at the Auditorium de Dijon, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, at La Rochelle and the Opéra de Vichy. His 2010-2011 concert schedule included a tour of London, Singapore, Paris, and other French cities, with Renaud Capuçon, performing the cycle of L.v. Beethoven's 10 sonatas for violin and piano.
At the end of 2012, the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie announced that Frank Braley would succeed Augustin Dumay as Music Director of this orchestra during the 2013-2014 season. He not only conducted keyboards in piano concerti for which played the soloist part, but also took ver much of the orchestral conducting and explored chamber music with the soloists of each pulpit during his mandate. From January 2014 to 2019, he was Music Director of the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie.
Frank Braley's repertoire is varied: while much of it includes a fair number of French works by Camille Saint-Saëns, Ravel, and Francis Poulenc, it also takes in a disparate range of compositions by W.A. Mozart, L.v. Beethoven, Schubert, Robert Schumann, and more. He has made numerous recordings for such labels as EMI, Harmonia Mundi, RCA/BMG, Erato and Virgin Classics. Among his most significant early recordings is a 1998 release of Richard Strauss' Op. 5 Sonata and other Strauss piano works, on Harmonia Mundi (reissued in 2008). Another highlight is the 2009 Alpha Productions release of Robert Schumann's piano works (Ballszenen and Kinderball, both for piano four-hands), with pianist Eric le Sage. A recording of L.v. Beethoven's Ten sonatas for violin and piano with Renaud Capuçon was issued in 2010. In 2019, he recorded an album of Johannes Brahms' clarinet sonatas & trio, with Moraguès and Christian Poltéra, on the Indesens label. His recordings have been awarded Diapason d'Or, Choc du Monde de la Musique, Gramophone's "Recording of the month".
Since September 2011, Frank Braley has been a professor at the Conservatoire de Paris. In May-June 2013, he was a member of the jury during the entire session (from the eliminatory to the final rounds) of the Queen Elisabeth Competition at Le Flagey and the Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels. In October 2015, he was a member of the jury for the Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition. |
