“Exquisite…daring…mesmerizing…”
– National Post
Noted for “an extraordinary range of colour” (Montreal Gazette), and “poetic brilliance” (Toronto Star), New York-based Canadian pianist Francine Kay has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician in Europe, North America, and Asia. She has been soloist with orchestras such as the Toronto Symphony, the Princeton Symphony, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra London, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Symphony Nova Scotia, the Victoria Symphony, the West Side Chamber Orchestra, and Sinfonia Toronto among others, under conductors such as Georg Tintner, Mark Laycock, Nurhan Arman, Agnes Grossman, Kevin Mallon, Jonathan Yates, and Simon Streatfeild. Ms. Kay’s recordings of piano works by Debussy, Ravel, and Satie, and chamber works by Rachmaninov and Janacek have received international acclaim and her performances have been broadcast on NPR, the BBC, WFMT, Radio France, and the CBC.
Francine Kay is the piano faculty artist at the Zodiac Academy and Festival in France, and she is regularly invited to teach, perform and give masterclasses at the Glenn Gould School, the University of Toronto, and the International Course of Interpretation at the Chopin State School in Nowy Sacz.
DMA: SUNY Stony Brook
MMUS: The Juilliard School
BMUS: The Juilliard School
Artist Diploma: The Glenn Gould School
Fellow: Tanglewood Music Center
Major Teachers: Gilbert Kalish, Leon Fleisher, Marek Jablonski, Adele Marcus, György Sebok.
- Rachmaninoff, Debussy Cello Sonatas, Janacek Pohadka, with Cellist Elizabeth Dolin (Analekta)
- Satie and Ravel, Gymnopedies, Nocturnes, Jeux d’eau, Valses Nobles et Sentimentales (Analekta)
- Debussy Preludes Livre I, Ballade, Reverie, Masques, L’Isle Joyeuse (Analekta)
- Ovation Vol. 2, Oskar Morawetz, Four Contrasting Moods for Piano (CBC)
- Debussy Preludes Books I and II (lBS/Audio Ideas)
Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Center Rose Studio, The National Gallery, Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto Center for the Arts, The Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts, Banff Festival for the Arts, Music Mountain, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Bargemusic, Salle Gaveau, Centre D’Arts Orford, Zodiac Festival, France, Poland, China, collaborations with Penderecki, Avalon, Arianna, Harlem String Quartets.
Pro Piano Competition, New York, 1st prize “Recitalist of the Year”
Juno Award Nomination “Best Classical Album, Solo or Chamber Music”
“Star of the Month” Fono Forum, Germany
Canada Council Grant to Professional Musicians of All World Cultures
Women’s Musical Club of Toronto Career Development Award
Chalmers Award, Toronto Arts Council
