Duncan Gifford

Born in Sydney (Australia) in 1972. He studied with Margaret Hair at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and he then entered the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where he studied with Professor Lev Vlassenko, obtaining his Master in Piano Performance. Since 1997, he lives in Madrid, where he has attended training courses with pianist Joaquín Soriano.

From 2002 to 2019 he was accompanying pianist professor at the Reina Sofía School of Music’s Telefónica Violin Chair with professor Marco Rizzi, and from 2014 to 2019, also in the “Alfredo Kraus” Fundación Ramón Areces Voice Chair with professor Ryland Davies. As professor of such School, he has performed at Madrid’s National Auditorium, the Lázaro Galdiano, Marcelino Botín and Caja Madrid Foundations, Madrid’s Academy of Fine Arts, and at Madrid’s Palacio del Marqués de Salamanca.

He has been awarded many prestigious international prizes, such as first prize at the José Iturbi International Competition in Spain (1998), third prize at the international piano competitions in Sydney (1992) and Montreal (1996), fourth prize at the International of Dublin (1994), and the Grand Prix at the María Callas Competition in Greece (2000).
He has given recitals in many countries in Europe and Asia. In 1999, he made his US debut at the Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall in New York and at the Cerritos Centre for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles. Back in Spain, he has developed an intense concert career, performing in the most prestigious music halls, such as the Palau de la Música in Valencia, National Auditorium and Teatro Monumental in Madrid, and Juan March Foundation.

In addition, he has performed as soloist with the Symphonies of Valencia, Málaga, Sydney, and Melbourne; the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Mozart Camerata in Rome, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, the Orchestre Métropolitain of Montreal, the Czech Republic National Orchestra, the National Radio Orchestra of Romania, the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic, and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.

In 1993, he launched his first CD “Clásicos ABC”, where he performed music by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov. His CD recording of the complete Debussy Preludes with the label Walsingham was highly acclaimed by the critics in Australia and the US and was nominated to the Australian Record of the Year. He has recently recorded his third CD, together with the Tasmania Symphony Orchestra, with works for piano and orchestra by Saint-Saëns, Franck, and Vincent D’Indy. Since 2019, he is professor of piano repertoire for voice at Madrid’s Singing School.