Freddy Kempf

Pianist Freddy Kempf has the artistic sensibilities and technique to be comfortable playing anything from Bach to Alfred Schnittke. An internationally successful figure with a cosmopolitan background, he has performed as far afield as Australia. Kempf is equally active as a recitalist, concerto soloist, and chamber music player. He has recorded mostly for the BIS label but moved to Divine Art for the 2024 release Matt Dibble: 24 Preludes and Fugues. Frederick "Freddy" Kempf was born on October 14, 1977, in London's Croydon district. His father was German (his grandfather was famed German pianist Wilhelm Kempff), and his mother was Japanese. He has always had an international career, speaking English, Russian, French, and German fluently, as well as some Japanese, Italian, and Spanish. Kempf took up the piano at age four. Soon, he was studying with Ronald Smith, and at eight, he made his concerto debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, playing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 12 in A major, K. 414. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London and the University of London and won several major British prizes, including the National Mozart Competition and, in 1992, the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition, a widely televised event. In 1996, he won the Young Concert Artist International auditions in New York and made his debut at Carnegie Hall as a result. However, it was a competition he did not win that provided the greatest boost to his career; at the 1998 Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow, he placed third, but many observers felt that he was the victim of jury bias and should have won. The resulting publicity led to sellout performances for the young pianist, even in Russia. Signed to the BIS label, Kempf made his debut recording, Freddy Kempf Plays Schumann, in 1999. Kempf's performing career has been unusually wide-ranging geographically. He has concertized across the U.K., Europe, Asia, Japan, Australia, and the Americas, appearing at the Shanghai Concert Hall in 2004 at its inaugural event, among other venues. Kempf is also an avid chamber music player and formed the Kempf Trio with violinist Pierre Bensaid and cellist Alexander Chaushian in 2000. Major concerto solo appearances included those with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 2006 and 2011. Kempf's recording catalog is large and unusually varied, including performances of works by composers as diverse as Beethoven, Mily Balakirev, and Alfred Schnittke. He has continued to record for BIS but moved to the Divine Art label in 2024 for the album Matt Dibble: 24 Preludes and Fugues. By that time, his recording catalog comprised more than 20 items. ~ James Manheim, Rovi