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The French pianist, David Fray, began to study music when he was 4 years old. In 1995 the Conservatory of Tarbes, his native city, awarded him gold medals in piano, music theory, and chamber music. In that same year he won the Concours des jeunes talents d’Aix en Provence (Young Talents of Aix en Provence Competition), which gave him the opportunity to perform the Grieg Concerto with the Manchester Sinfonia conducted by Michael Brandt. His application to study piano with Jacques Rouvier at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris was unanimously accepted. He graduated with top honors for his diploma recital, and was awarded the Feydeau de Brou Saint Paul grant. He has also benefited from the advice of artists such as Dmitri Bashkirov, Paul Badura-Skoda, and Christoph Eschenbach. In January 2004 he was awarded a prize and a grant by the Banque Populaire.
During the 2002-2003 season David Fray gave numerous recitals both in France (at the Cité de la Musique and the Théâtre Mogador in Paris, and at the International Piano Festival of La Roque d’Anthéron), and in Japan (at Alti Hall in Kyoto). He has been broadcast several times on the France Musiques network. His return to the Roque d’Anthéron festival in the summer of 2004 caused a stir, and an extract of his recital (Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy) was recorded on DVD. In March 2005, he performed Ravel's Concerto in G Major at the Théâtre Mogador under the direction of Christoph Eschenbach.
David Fray has received numerous prizes and awards including 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 of the prizes awarded by the Commission des radios publiques de langue française; and the Révélation classique (Classical discovery) prize from ADAMI (Administration des Droits des Artistes et Musiciens interprètes, the French performance rights agency). 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 - Impromtu by Jacques Hétu, who dedicated the work to Fray. As another direct reward for his success in this competition, ATMA Classique signed a recording contract with Fray. As well as releasing his first CD on the ATMA label (with music by Franz Liszt and Schubert), he undertook a major tour of Argentina in Autumn 2005, and was the guest artist of the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin in February 2006. |
