Frank Dupree
Biography Frank Dupree
Frank Dupree
Winning the Assorted Programs category of the International Classical Music Awards (2022) for his recording of Nikolai Kapustin’s Piano Concerto No. 4, FRANK DUPREE continues to win acclaim both home and abroad as he champions the work of the “Russian in Gershwin’s clothing”. Gramophone also remarked on Frank’s “unrestrained brilliance“ in the recording, and shortlisted it as Concerto Recording of the Year at their 2022 Classical Music Awards.
With a growing portfolio of recent album releases which most recently includes his jazz group the Frank Dupree Trio‘s debut album BLUEPRINT, the German pianist‘s recording output perfectly reflects his eclectic and uniquely varied approach to live performance. Winner of the 2018 Opus Klassik Award for Concerto Recording of the Year (20th/21st century), Frank initially came to international attention as the laureate prize winner of the 2014 Deutscher Musikwettbewerb, captivating the judges with his musical maturity, refined technique and ability to draw a wide spectrum of sound and colour from the keyboard. A “sincere, feeling and enormously interesting artist” (Emanuel Ax) who “always amazes” (PZ News) and whose “broad tonal range and sinuous rhythmic technique” (Classical Source) have earned him acclaim amongst his peers on orchestral and chamber stages alike.
Originally trained as a jazz percussionist, Frank celebrates the breadth and depth of the piano repertoire, with a particular enthusiasm for the music of living composers, having worked closely with Péter Eötvös (Erdenklavier – Himmelklavier, world premiere recording in 2015 for the GENUIN classics label) and Wolfgang Rihm (Con Piano? Certo!, world premiere performance with conductor Justin Brown and the Badische Staatskapelle Karlsruhe in June 2015).
Dupree recently undertook his long-awaited Royal Albert Hall debut in London, performing Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, where “[he] gave an expressive, animated and mellifluous performance, with fingers darting over the keys with breathtaking speed” (Broadway World). Other recent highlights include his Paris orchestral debut with the Orchestre National d’Île-de-France, both solo and jazz trio recitals at the PyeongChang Festival in Korea, and other debut appearances with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Trondheim Symfonieorchester, Sinfonieorcheser Liechtenstein, and at London’s Wigmore Hall, LSO St Luke’s, Tonhalle Zurich, Berlin’s Konzerthaus, Brussels BOZAR, as well as ongoing relationships with the Stuttgart Philharmoniker, Munich Symphony, and Wüttembergerische Kammerorchester Heilbronn.
An artist who has firmly established himself on the international scene, Frank has previously performed with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris (play/direct), London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Malmö Symphony, Kristiansand Symphony, Auckland Philharmonia, Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Bern Symphony, Duisburg Philharmonic, Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra, Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Essen Philharmonic Orchestra and the Musikkollegium Winterthur.
Recitals and chamber music play a particularly important role in Frank’s musical ethos, and he has frequently collaborated with other rising stars of his generation such as Simon Höfele, Edgar Moreau, Daniel Lozakovich, Timothy Ridout, Kian Soltani, Pablo Barragan, Vivi Vassileva and the Calidore and Goldmund string quartets, giving concerts at such places as the Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, Verbier Festival, Septembre Musical in Montreux, Davos Festival, Heidelberg Spring Festival, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele. Of particular interest are recent collaborations with the Kurt Weill Festival as artist-in-residence and with the Repercussion ensemble at the Cologne Philharmonie.
Combining his fine musicianship with the art of direction, Frank was awarded first prize at the 2012 International Hans-von-Bülow Competition in Meiningen for his play/direct work with Beethoven and was soon after invited to take part in the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris Play-Direct Academy with Joseph Swensen, Stephen Kovacevich, and François Leleux. On the podium, Frank has previously assisted Sir Simon Rattle, François-Xavier Roth, and Mario Venzago, and will continue to follow this particular passion with upcoming invitations to conduct the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège and Dortmund Philharmonic.
A Steinway Artist, Frank began as a student of Sontraud Speidel at the age of five and recently completed his studies at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. Over the years, he has played in masterclasses with Emanuel Ax, Menahem Pressler, Ralf Gothóni, Klaus Hellwig, Alexander Braginsky, Cyprien Katsaris, Ferenc Rados, Gábor Takács-Nagy, and Stephen Kovacevich. In Summer 2013, Frank was awarded the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes scholarship and, in 2014, was the recipient of the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben scholarship in support of his studies.
