Augustin Dumay

Violinist and conductor Augustin Dumay ranks among the foremost instrumentalists of his era, with an extensive discography issued by EMI and Deutsche Grammophon; in subsequent decades he developed a parallel conducting career while establishing himself as an influential teacher.

Born in Paris on January 17, 1949, Dumay took up the violin at five after attending a recital by Nathan Milstein, receiving his earliest instruction from his father. He entered the Paris Conservatory before turning ten, yet most of his formation occurred through private study—first under Milstein, whom he auditioned successfully as a teenager by substituting for an indisposed Henryk Szeryng, and later with Arthur Grumiaux in Belgium. These experiences fused elements of the Russian and Franco-Belgian traditions in his playing. In 1979 Herbert von Karajan invited him to a special concert in Paris; the engagement quickly generated invitations from leading ensembles, among them the Berlin Philharmonic, the Japan Philharmonic, and the English Chamber Orchestra.

Dumay’s recording activity commenced in the 1980s during a long association with Deutsche Grammophon, which included the complete Beethoven violin sonatas with pianist Maria-João Pires and numerous other core-repertory works. The duo performed together extensively and were married for a period; Dumay subsequently wed cellist Anne Hermant. Together with cellist Jian Wang, Dumay and Pires also gained recognition as a trio. On another Deutsche Grammophon project he both conducted and performed Mozart’s five violin concertos with the Camerata Academica Salzburg.

In 2003 Dumay transferred to EMI while maintaining an intensive schedule of concerts and recordings. That same year he assumed the post of principal conductor of the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, leading the ensemble on European tours. He appeared regularly at festivals, notably the Ravinia summer residency of the Chicago Symphony, and joined the faculty of the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Brussels. In 2013 he moved to Onyx Classics, releasing a recording of Saint-Saëns’ La muse et le poète. He has remained professionally active well into later life, issuing a new account of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64, on Onyx Classics in 2021.