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By Vivien Schweitzer
13 Dec 2006
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| David Fray |
The 25-five year old French pianist David Fray has signed an exclusive recording contract with Virgin Classics, reports Gramophone Online.
His first disc, to be released in May 2007, will include Bach's Partita and French Suite in D minor and Boulez's Douze Notations and Incises.
Virgin Classics president Alain Lanceron said in a statement quoted by Gramophone, "It has always been Virgin Classics' policy, when signing an exclusive contract, to push forward very promising young artists at the threshold of a great international career. This is the case with David Fray, whom we are very happy to welcome into the Virgin Classics family.”
Fray's awards include the Diploma of Outstanding Merit at the Fifth Hamamatsu Competition in Japan; the Jeune soliste de l'année award by the Commission des radios publiques de langue française; and the Révélation classique prize from the Administration des Droits des Artistes et Musiciens interprètes.
He performed Ravel's Piano Concerto in G at the International Piano Festival of La Roque d’Anthéron in 2004 and with Christoph Eschenbach and the Orchestre de Paris in March 2005; next year he will perform the work at the Salle Pleyel in Paris under conductor John Axelrod and at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées with Kurt Masur and the Orchestre national de France. Next March he will undertake a tour of Italy with the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra led by Riccardo Muti. Last autumn he toured Argentina.
Born in 1981 in Tarbes, France, Fray began to study music when he was 4 years old. In 1995 the conservatory of Tarbes awarded him gold medals in piano, music theory, and chamber music; that same year won the Concours des jeunes talents d’Aix-en-Provence.
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.
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