David Fray

Pianist David Fray concentrates his repertory on Bach while reaching forward into the nineteenth century. Although his unconventional Bach performances have prompted comparisons to Glenn Gould, Fray himself identifies Wilhelm Kempff as the stronger influence on his approach.

Born May 24, 1981, in Tarbes in southwestern France, Fray grew up in that city with two teachers as parents and began piano lessons at age four. His early studies took place at the Henri Duparc Music Conservatory in Tarbes, after which he entered the Conservatoire de Paris to work with Jacques Rouvier. The Second Grand Prize he received at the Montreal International Music Competition in 2004 resulted in a contract with ATMA Classique, for which he recorded an album of Schubert and Liszt pieces. His initial United States engagement occurred in 2009 with the Cleveland Orchestra; subsequent appearances brought him before the Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, and Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

In 2007 Fray joined Virgin Classics, releasing the well-regarded album David Fray plays Bach and Boulez. He has remained with that label and its French sister imprint Erato/Warner Bros. ever since. European engagements have encompassed the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, and London Philharmonic, while recital appearances have included the Cité de la Musique in Paris. Bach occupies the largest share of his recorded output, frequently in audacious readings that recall Gould. Chamber music also figures in his activities; in 2019 he collaborated with violinist Renaud Capuçon on Erato in a recording of Bach’s violin-and-keyboard sonatas. The following year he issued an account of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, BWV 988. For the 2021-2022 season he appeared as soloist with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the Monte Carlo Philharmonic—the latter project undertaken with mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli—and prepared to partner baritone Peter Mattei in Schubert’s song cycle Die Winterreise, D. 911, in Frankfurt, Germany, and Turku, Finland, as well as to join soprano Fatma Said for a concert at the Eiffel Tower.