Francois-Frederic Guy is regarded as one of the most fascinating pianists of his generation since his career was launched by his debut with Orchestre de Paris and Wolfgang Sawallisch in 2000.

Guy has performed worldwide with orchestras such as the Berlin Symphony, Hallé, Philharmonia, London Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris and San Francisco Symphony and world renowned conductors including Esa-Pekka Salonen, Bernard Haitink, Kazushi Ono, Marc Albrecht, Philippe Jordan, Daniel Harding, Neeme Järvi and Michael Tilson Thomas.

In recital he has performed in cities including London, Milan, Munich, Paris, Vienna and Washington, and at festivals including La Roque d'Anthéron, Chopin in Warsaw, International Beethoven Festival Bonn, Lucerne, AlpenKLASSIK in Bad Reichenhall, as well as Festival International de Colmar, Printemps des Arts de Monte-Carlo, La Roque d'Anthéron International Piano Festival and Cheltenham. After his debut recital in the Berlin Philharmonie, the Berliner Morgenpost wrote: ’Guy is a pianist of astonishing expressiveness, with immaculate pianistic technique...a man of the present even when he plays Schubert...’.

In 2008 Guy embarked on a major Beethoven project that has included recording and performing in concert all 32 Beethoven Sonatas and the 5 Piano Concertos. BBC Music Magazine said of his Emperor Concerto in the first volume: ‘it confirms Guy as one of the foremost pianists of his generation’. BBC Music magazine said of the 2nd and 3rd concertos ”with warmth and wit, Guy is impressive playing Beethoven”. Of his Op 7 from Beethoven Piano Sonatas Vol 1 released on CD by Outhere/Zig-Zag Gramophone Magazine said "he builds this movement, immense in spiritual scope, into a profoundly stirring ediffice."  US magazine Fanfare described his playing in Vol 2 “ If I had to describe Guy's overall approach, I would say he's a lyricist, in the best sense of the word. By this, I mean that  he goes for the long line, taking phrases in breaths, that correspond to a singer's cantilena. To the extent possible, Guy  overcomes the piano's inherent inability to produce a true legato the way the human voice, or a string or wind  instrument can - connecting one note to the next without space in between...” As part of this project Guy has performed the complete cycle of 32 Sonatas in cities including Washington, Paris and Monaco. Guy is a dedicated chamber musician and has included performing Beethoven’s chamber music for strings and piano with Tedi Papavrami and Xavier Phillips, beginning in 2012.

Guy’s recent release of Liszt: Harmonies poétiques et religieuses & Sonata in B minor CD received high acclaim. The Gramophone Magazine said "He is enthralling in the "Invocation", most opulent of curtain-raisers, mystical in the "Ave Maria"...this is a true act of musical devotion."  Other recordings include Brahms’s Piano Concerto No 2 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Paavo Berglund.

Recent orchestral appearances include Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France, Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Sinfonia Varsovia and Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg. Guy also recently made his conducting debut from the piano with Orchestre Phiharmonique de Liege. Recent recitals include appearances at the Wigmore Hall and Queen Elisabeth Hall in London as well as the Spivakov Hall in Moscow.

In addition to his admiration of Beethoven – whom he describes as “the Alpha and Omega of music” – he has special affinities with the music of Bartók, Brahms, Liszt and Prokofiev and a strong commitment to contemporary music with close links to composers such as Ivan Fedele, Marc Monnet, Gerard Pesson, Bruno Mantovani and Hugues Dufourt who dedicated his masterpiece "Erlkönig" to him. Most recently Guy performed the world premiere of Bruno Mantovani’s Double Concerto in Porto and Toulouse and En Pieces in Festival Musica in Strasbourg, a work dedicated to him.

François-Frédéric Guy is Artist in Residence at Metz Arsenal Hall.

May 2013