Biography
Pianist Frank Dupree first attracted notice on the German scene after claiming the laureate prize at the Deutscher Musikwettbewerb in 2014, where critics singled out the broad tonal palette he commanded at the keyboard. Specializing frequently in contemporary repertoire, he later captured additional prominent German awards both as a performer and as a recording artist. Having once weighed a career as a jazz percussionist, Dupree has committed several projects to the classical-jazz fusion style of Nikolai Kapustin, culminating in the 2024 release of an album that presents Kapustin’s Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 6.
Born in Rastatt, southwestern Germany, on December 6, 1991, Dupree began piano lessons at age five and has remained a student of Sontraud Speidel ever since. For a period he also studied and performed as a jazz percussionist while enrolled at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. His first major recognition arrived with the first prize at the 2012 International Hans von Bülow Competition in Meiningen, Germany, given for a performance in which he both played and directed from the keyboard. The victory brought scholarships from the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes and the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben, after which he completed his training in master classes with Emanuel Ax, Cyprien Katsaris, and Stephen Kovacevich. Signed to Capriccio, he issued his debut album of George Antheil works on that label in 2017.
Dupree has appeared as soloist and director with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, and he has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra and the London Philharmonic. During the mid-2010s he took part in major recordings of new music by Péter Eötvös (Erdenklavier - Himmelklavier) and Wolfgang Rihm (Con Piano? Certo!). As a recitalist he has played at Wigmore Hall in London, BOZAR in Brussels, and the Berlin Konzerthaus, among other halls. His chamber-music partnerships have encompassed trumpeter Simon Höfele, violinist Daniel Lozakovich, and the Calidore and Goldmund quartets. Returning to Capriccio in 2021, Dupree released an album of Kapustin concerted pieces and also accompanied violist Timothy Ridout on A Poet’s Love. Remaining active through the early and middle 2020s, he supported Höfele on the 2022 recital Salted Caramel and continued issuing further Kapustin albums on Capriccio, among them Nikolai Kapustin: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 6 (2024).
Born in Rastatt, southwestern Germany, on December 6, 1991, Dupree began piano lessons at age five and has remained a student of Sontraud Speidel ever since. For a period he also studied and performed as a jazz percussionist while enrolled at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. His first major recognition arrived with the first prize at the 2012 International Hans von Bülow Competition in Meiningen, Germany, given for a performance in which he both played and directed from the keyboard. The victory brought scholarships from the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes and the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben, after which he completed his training in master classes with Emanuel Ax, Cyprien Katsaris, and Stephen Kovacevich. Signed to Capriccio, he issued his debut album of George Antheil works on that label in 2017.
Dupree has appeared as soloist and director with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, and he has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra and the London Philharmonic. During the mid-2010s he took part in major recordings of new music by Péter Eötvös (Erdenklavier - Himmelklavier) and Wolfgang Rihm (Con Piano? Certo!). As a recitalist he has played at Wigmore Hall in London, BOZAR in Brussels, and the Berlin Konzerthaus, among other halls. His chamber-music partnerships have encompassed trumpeter Simon Höfele, violinist Daniel Lozakovich, and the Calidore and Goldmund quartets. Returning to Capriccio in 2021, Dupree released an album of Kapustin concerted pieces and also accompanied violist Timothy Ridout on A Poet’s Love. Remaining active through the early and middle 2020s, he supported Höfele on the 2022 recital Salted Caramel and continued issuing further Kapustin albums on Capriccio, among them Nikolai Kapustin: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 6 (2024).
Albums
