Described as "stylish and articulate" in the New York Times and praised as having "undoubted talent" by the Los Angeles Times, pianist David Fung is widely recognized for playing that is elegant and refined, yet deeply poetic and intensely expressive. A top prizewinner in two of the "big five" international piano competitions (the Queen Elisabeth in Brussels and the Arthur Rubinstein in Tel Aviv), Mr. Fung has appeared as guest soloist with all the major orchestras in his native Australia, including the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and internationally with such ensembles as the Israel Camerata Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Israel Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Belgium, the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra.
A frequent guest artist of concert series and festivals throughout the world, Mr. Fung has performed at the Aspen Music Festival, Atlantic Music Festival, Bari International Music Festival in Italy, Edinburgh International Festival, Music at Menlo, Ravinia Festival, and in New York's Carnegie Hall and Merkin Hall, Los Angeles' Walt Disney Concert Hall and Royce Hall, Wigmore Hall in London, Scotland's Queen's Hall, Belgium's La Monnaie, Toronto's Glenn Gould Studio, the Sydney Opera House, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the National Concert Hall in Taiwan, and Israel's Mann Auditorium. At his Edinburgh International Festival debut, Jonas Green of the Edinburgh Guide described Mr. Fung as being "impossibly virtuosic, prodigiously talented... and probably [doing] ten more impossible things daily before breakfast."
Highlights of the 13/14 season include the West Coast Premiere of Chen Qigang's Piano Concerto "Er Huang" with Lan Shui and the San Francisco Symphony, Brahms Second Piano Concerto with Marin Alsop and the National Orchestra of Belgium, Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major with Michael Hofstetter and the Royal Chamber Orchestra, and debuts at the Ravinia Festival, the Atlantic Music Festival, Salle Henry le Boeuf at the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Flagey and La Monnaie in Belgium, the National Concert Hall in Taiwan, the EPCOR Center for the Performing Arts in Calgary, the DiMenna Center in New York, and return performances at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall and the Bari International Music Festival in Italy. He also appeared in recital with soprano Amando Roocroft, 'cellist Johannes Moser, violinist Geoff Nuttall, and performed newly composed works by Balint Karosi, Paul Kerekes, Michel Petrossian, Frederic Rzewski, and Christopher Theofanidis.
Highlights of the current season include Ravel Piano Concerto with Francesco Corti and the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra which opens the NTSO International Music Festival, Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto with the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, and Poulenc Concerto for Two Pianos with Stanislav Kochanovksy and the Israel Symphony Orchestra, where Mr. Fung replaced Mr. Robert Levin on one hour's notice. Mr. Fung continues to be engaged for his outstanding interpretations of Mozart and the Viennese masters. This season sees him perform Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major with Edwin Outwater and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, and Mozart Piano Concerto No. 25 in C Major with James Feddeck and the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra in Finland. Other highlights include multiple concerts during a residency at the Hong Kong Arts Festival, a solo recital tour of major concert venues in China and Taiwan (including the Beijing Concert Hall, the Shanghai Oriental Art Center, Guangzhou Opera House, and Taiwan's National Concert Hall), as well as re-invitations to the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, Salle Henry le Boeuf at the Palais des Beaux-Arts (BOZAR) in Brussels, and the Bari International Music Festival in Italy where he returns as Artistic Director for the fourth year.
The Bari International Music Festival enjoys a reputation as one of the most important chamber music festivals in the south of Italy. Since joining the festival in 2010, Mr. Fung's innovative programming has led to sold-out performances in the festival series, which takes place in the one thousand year-old Vallisa. The Corriere del Mezzogiorno has praised the festival for "spreading an infectious love of classical music throughout the city of Bari" while "attracting large numbers of younger audiences to its concert series."
Mr. Fung's debut album with Yarlung Records linked the virtuosity in the piano music of Liszt and Ravel: Liszt's Sonata in B minor and Les jeux d'eau à la villa d'Este, with Ravel's Jeux d'Eau and La Valse. His second album with Yarlung, Evening Conversations, featured a solo recital of intimate works by composers ranging from Mozart to Tan Dun. Evening Conversations was praised as "an overall favorite" by James Harrington in the American Record Guide and was named one of the Top 10 Recordings of 2011 by Linn Records. As a chamber musician, Mr. Fung has recorded the complete violin and piano works of American composer Lawrence Dillon with violinist Danielle Belen (Naxos) and partnered with Canadian 'cellist Elinor Frey in her album Dialoghi (Yarlung).
A winner of the most prestigious national and international awards, Mr. Fung garnered international attention as a top prizewinner of the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in Brussels and the Arthur Rubinstein Piano International Masters Competition in Tel Aviv, where he was further distinguished by prizes for Best Mozart Concerto and Best Performance of Chamber Music. Mr. Fung was the Grand Prize winner of Australia's most important music prize, the ABC Symphony Australia Young Performer of the Year Award.
Mr. Fung was the first pianist to graduate from the Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles and is an official Steinway Artist.
