May 22, 2016 - David Gray
David Gray was born in 1990 and raised in Glasgow, Scotland. He began playing piano at the age of 4, and at the age of 13 he started attending a specialist music boarding school in Edinburgh, where he spent his remaining 5 years of high school.
In July 2015, he graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in London with high distinction in a Master of Arts degree in piano performance. He has been studying at the Academy with Professor Hamish Milne from 2008 to 2014 on full scholarships, completing his undergraduate degree with first class honors in 2013, and achieving the highest exam marks in his year for concerto and final recitals during both degrees. During his time at the Royal Academy, he won many of the school's biggest prizes, as well as winning prizes in international piano competitions, and he has performed in numerous important British concert halls. This year he is a fellow of the Academy piano department, and assists with some teaching there. In the last few years he has been working with renowned film composer and accompanist Neil Brand in the art of silent film accompaniment on the piano. In this capacity he has travelled to the Pordenone Silent Film Festival in Italy to perform, as well as work with authorities from all over the world.
He started playing theatre organ in 2004, and since then he has worked hard to maintain a balance between performing theatre organ and classical piano. In 2005 he won the ATOS Young Theatre Organist Competition in Los Angeles, and has performed at four ATOS conventions since then. In 2007 he received the Cinema Organ Society's Ian Sutherland Award, and has performed widely in the UK, as well as completing two concert tours of Australia and New Zealand. In the last year he has travelled to the USA five times to perform in many of the country's most prestigious venues. Upcoming inter-national concerts this year include numerous trips to the USA, Canada, Holland and a tour of Australia. He was named the American Theatre Organ Society's Organist of the Year for 2015. He is currently in the stages of producing his first theatre organ CD; this was done on the 5 manual, 80 rank Sanfilippo Wurlitzer, and should be released this summer.
In July 2015, he graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in London with high distinction in a Master of Arts degree in piano performance. He has been studying at the Academy with Professor Hamish Milne from 2008 to 2014 on full scholarships, completing his undergraduate degree with first class honors in 2013, and achieving the highest exam marks in his year for concerto and final recitals during both degrees. During his time at the Royal Academy, he won many of the school's biggest prizes, as well as winning prizes in international piano competitions, and he has performed in numerous important British concert halls. This year he is a fellow of the Academy piano department, and assists with some teaching there. In the last few years he has been working with renowned film composer and accompanist Neil Brand in the art of silent film accompaniment on the piano. In this capacity he has travelled to the Pordenone Silent Film Festival in Italy to perform, as well as work with authorities from all over the world.
He started playing theatre organ in 2004, and since then he has worked hard to maintain a balance between performing theatre organ and classical piano. In 2005 he won the ATOS Young Theatre Organist Competition in Los Angeles, and has performed at four ATOS conventions since then. In 2007 he received the Cinema Organ Society's Ian Sutherland Award, and has performed widely in the UK, as well as completing two concert tours of Australia and New Zealand. In the last year he has travelled to the USA five times to perform in many of the country's most prestigious venues. Upcoming inter-national concerts this year include numerous trips to the USA, Canada, Holland and a tour of Australia. He was named the American Theatre Organ Society's Organist of the Year for 2015. He is currently in the stages of producing his first theatre organ CD; this was done on the 5 manual, 80 rank Sanfilippo Wurlitzer, and should be released this summer.
