Frank Braley, piano

After long hesitating between scientific and musical studies, Frank Braley left university to devote himself entirely to the piano. At the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, he studied with Pascal Devoyon, Christian Ivaldi, and Jacques Rouvier, where he unanimously received his First Prizes in piano and chamber music. In 1991, he won both the First Grand Prize and the Audience Prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium, where audiences and critics alike praised a laureate of exceptional musical and poetic qualities.

Since then, he has been invited to perform with major orchestras in Europe, North America, and Asia (Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Belgian National Orchestra, Liège Philharmonic, major British, Scandinavian, German, Swiss, Dutch, Japanese, and North American orchestras), under the direction of conductors such as Charles Dutoit, Armin Jordan, Emmanuel Krivine, Louis Langrée, Kurt Masur, Antonio Pappano, Stéphane Denève, and Sir Yehudi Menuhin. He has also toured China, Japan, Italy, and the United States, notably appearing at the Tanglewood Festival with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, at Carnegie Hall (Zankel Hall) with the Ensemble Intercontemporain, and at the BBC Proms in London, where he replaced Martha Argerich.

A sought-after chamber musician, he performs in recital in Paris, London, Vienna, Amsterdam, Brussels, and elsewhere, and shares the stage with partners such as Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Maria João Pires, Gérard Caussé, Éric Le Sage, Paul Meyer, and Emmanuel Pahud. He has notably performed the complete Beethoven sonatas for violin and piano with Renaud Capuçon in major European venues and in Asia, as well as the complete Beethoven piano sonatas at La Roque d’Anthéron and in several international capitals. In 2023, he performed Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G with the Ballet and Orchestra of the Paris National Opera for Jerome Robbins’ ballet En Sol.

His extensive discography includes, for Harmonia Mundi, Schubert (Sonata D.959 and Klavierstücke D.946, Diapason d’Or), the complete piano works of Richard Strauss, Beethoven sonatas, a Gershwin recital, and Poulenc’s Double Concerto (Prix Caecilia, Diapason d’Or). He contributed to Éric Le Sage’s complete Schumann edition, recorded a Liszt–Debussy–Gershwin DVD for Naïve, and for Virgin Classics/Erato recorded Ravel’s chamber music, Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals, Schubert’s Trout and piano trios, Brahms’ Hungarian Dances, as well as the complete Beethoven sonatas for violin and piano with Renaud Capuçon, unanimously acclaimed by critics. For Erato, he also recorded the complete Beethoven sonatas for cello and piano with Gautier Capuçon, followed by Beethoven’s “Ghost” and “Archduke” trios with Renaud and Gautier Capuçon.

Frank Braley served as Music Director of the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie from 2014 to 2021. He has been a professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris since 2011.

Frank Braley is Master in residence of the Piano Section at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel.