David Fray is one of the most gifted pianists of his generation. While he attaches particular importance to the works of J.S. Bach, his vast repertoire extends to the music of today. He performs regularly with leading orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Salzburg Mozarteum Orchester, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Rome’s Santa Cecilia Orchestra, under world-renowned conductors including Marin Alsop, Semyon Bychkov, Andrew Davis, Paavo Jarvi, Kurt Masur, Riccardo Muti, Yannick Nézet-Seguin and Esa-Pekka Salonen.
David Fray is exclusive artist for Erato. His first recording, devoted to Bach and Boulez, won him the most prestigious awards (Newcomer of the Year 2008 / BBC Music Magazine, Best Recording / Echo Preis 2008), as did his recording of Bach concertos with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and his Schubert recital. This was followed by Mozart Concertos with the Philharmonia and Jaap van Zweden, a Bach recital, a Schubert recital (March 2015), a Chopin recital (January 2017), then Bach Concertos for 2, 3 and 4 pianos with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse and Jacques Rouvier, Emmanuel Christien and Audrey Vigoureux (November 2018), Bach’s sonatas for violin and piano with violinist Renaud Capuçon (March 2019), then Bach’s Goldberg Variations (November 2021).
David Fray is founder and artistic director of the “L’Offrande Musicale” festival, which takes place every summer in the Hautes-Pyrénées region of France, and focuses on access to music for people with disabilities, and more generally on singularity.
The great director Bruno Monsaingeon has devoted two films to David Fray, the first dedicated to the Bach concertos and the second to two Mozart concertos, broadcast on Arte and Mezzo.
Born in 1981, David Fray was admitted to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris in Jacques Rouvier’s class. He then went on to complete a cycle of advanced studies in Ivaldi’s class, as well as chamber music with Christian Ivaldi and Claire Désert. He has taken part in Master Classes with Dimitri Bashkirov, Menahem Pressler, Paul Badura-Skoda and Christoph Eschenbach. In Germany, he was awarded the “Klavier Festival Ruhr” young talent prize under the patronage of Pierre Boulez. He was named “Young Soloist of the Year” by the Commission des Radios Publiques Francophones (CRPLF), “déclic” winner of the AFAA (Association Française d’Action Artistique), and “Classical Revelation of the Year” by ADAMI in 2004. That same year, he was awarded the Second Grand Prize and the Prize for the best interpretation of a Canadian work at the Montreal International Competition. He also received grants from the Fondation Banque Populaire and the Meyer Foundation for cultural and artistic development.
David Fray performs regularly with leading orchestras such as the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de l’Opéra national de Paris, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre National de Lyon, Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Deutsche Sinfonie-Orchester, Jerusalem Symphony, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Bayerische Rundfunk Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland, San Francisco, Boston Symphony, NHK, Chicago Symphony, Dallas Symphony, New-York Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Salzburg Mozarteum Orchester, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Rome Santa Cecilia Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, etc… He collaborates with world-renowned conductors such as Marin Alsop, John Axelrod, Semyon Bychkov, Christoph Eschenbach, Andrew Davis, Paavo Jarvi, Kurt Masur, Riccardo Muti, Yannick Nézet-Seguin, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Michael Sanderling, Jaap van Zweden.
In recital, he performs on prestigious stages such as the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall and Vienna’s Musikverein, as well as at the La Roque d’Anthéron Festival, BBC Proms, Festival de Menton, Grange de Meslay, Festival de Pâques d’Aix-en-Provence, Piano aux Jacobins (Toulouse), Festival de Megève, Schubertiades d’Hohenems, Prague Spring Festival and Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad. David Fray regularly appears in recital with violinist Renaud Capuçon, with whom he performs Bach and Beethoven sonatas for violin and keyboard.
David Fray is exclusive artist for Erato. His first recording, devoted to Bach and Boulez, won him the most prestigious awards (Newcomer of the Year 2008 / BBC Music Magazine, Best Recording / Echo Preis 2008), as did his recording of Bach concertos with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and his Schubert recital. Next appearances include Mozart Concertos with the Philharmonia and Jaap van Zweden, a Bach recital, a Schubert recital (March 2015), a Chopin recital (January 2017), then Bach Concertos for 2, 3 and 4 pianos with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse and Jacques Rouvier, Emmanuel Christien and Audrey Vigoureux (November 2018) and JS Bach’s sonatas for violin and piano with violinist Renaud Capuçon (March 2019). Latest release, JS Bach’s Goldberg Variations (November 2021).
Director Bruno Monsaingeon devotes two films to him, the first dedicated to the Bach concertos and the second to two Mozart concertos, broadcast on Arte and Mezzo.
David Fray is founder and artistic director of the “L’Offrande Musicale” festival, held in the Hautes Pyrénées in summer.
