Francine Kay, piano
Noted for “an extraordinary range of color” (Montreal Gazette), and “poetic brilliance” (Toronto Star), Canadian pianist Francine Kay has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician in Europe, North America, and Asia, at venues such as Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium and Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Center Rose Studio, Salle Gaveau, The National Gallery, Roy Thomson Hall, The Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts, and Bargemusic. Francine Kay made her New York debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall as the winner and Recitalist of the Year of the New York Pro Piano Competition.
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 and Sinfonia Toronto among others, under conductors such as Georg Tintner, Mark Laycock, Nurhan Arman, Agnes Grossman, Kevin Mallon, Ermanno Florio, Arpad Joo, Jonathan Yates, and Simon Streatfeild. She has performed at festivals such as the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Music Mountain, the Banff Summer Festival, the International Course of Interpretation in Poland and the 60th annual Chopin Festival, Czech Republic.
Francine Kay’s recordings have received international acclaim, including a Juno Award nomination and a Star of the Month selection from Fono Forum, Germany.
Ms. Kay’s performances have been broadcast on NPR, the BBC, WFMT, Radio France, and the CBC.
Ms. Kay enjoys collaborations with such groups such as the Penderecki, Avalon, Harlem and Arianna String Quartets, Trio Arkel, Cantata Profana and the Richardson Chamber Players.
Ms. Kay received her Bachelors and Masters degrees at the Juilliard School, the Artist Diploma from the Glenn Gould School and the Doctor of Musical Arts at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Her principal mentors include Gilbert Kalish, Marek Jablonski, Gyorgy Sebok and Leon Fleisher.
She was the recipient of the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto Career Development Award, the Chalmers Award, and grants from the Canada Council.
Francine Kay is a member of the piano faculty of Princeton University. Ms. Kay is also a piano faculty artist at the Zodiac Academy and Festival held in the south of France every summer.