An Affair To Remember

Vie d'artiste

Le Trésor

Rautavaara: Ballade for harpe og strykere

This is a chaconne for string quintet (2 violins, 2 violas, cello).

Lyra for String Quintet

Young Tristan

With over thirty years of professional music experience as a recitalist and concerto soloist, Michael Ward is a pianist of outstanding gifts.  In possession of a prodigious virtuoso technique, deep music insight and thorough understanding of all the music he performs,  Michael is in total command of his art and he uses all his considerable musical and pianistic skills to communicate the music he plays in a sincere and genuine manner to every member of his audience. 

Michael gave his first public piano recital aged 9 and after a period of study with the celebrated pianist Danielle Salamon he won the International Fritz Gottlieb Memorial Scholarship for excellence in piano performance which resulted in two years study in London with Vera Yelverton.  During this time he was offered recitals and concerto performances throughout the UK and consequently Michael was invited to study the piano works of Franz Liszt privately with the famous Hungarian concert pianist Louis Kentner. 

Throughout his career, in addition to his concert activities as a soloist,  Michael's skills as a piano accompanist and chamber musician have been much sought after by countless instrumentalists,  singers and chamber ensembles in music from Baroque to the present day.  As a consequence,  in all three roles Michael has amassed a vast repertoire and he has given concerts throughout the world in many of the most prestigious venues as well as making numerous commercial recordings and playing for both Radio and Television broadcasts in the UK and abroad.


'I have performed many recitals across the UK with Michael.  An innate sense of phrasing, articulation and presentation distinguishes all his performances and lends all his concerts a real sense of occasion.  It is a rare privilege to meet such a distinguished and unpretentious musician. I have always admired Michael’s commitment to music and he continues to inspire those with whom he comes into contact.’     
David Pyatt,  Internationally renowned French Horn Virtuoso and Principal with the London Symphony Orchestra.



MOZART - Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major K.543 - Extract from Movt 2

Interpretada por la Orquesta de Cámara Encuentro, del Proyecto Encuentro, perteneciente al Collegium Musicum de Bs. As.

Elegía para Orquesta de Cuerdas - P. Tchaikovsky

The Ballet Bewitched

Danza paraguaya (No.1)  by Agustín Barrios
guitar: Frank Hiemenz
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painting:  "The musician" by Vicente Nicolau Cotanda, 1886

"Danza paraguaya"  by Agustín Barrios

This set primarily was made with Claire Clarinet Virtuoso - a music software instrument (VST) by www.8dio.com

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8Dio Claire Clarinet: "Étude de Claire" by Colin O'Malley

Born in Marseilles August 11, 1913
His father, a musician in the navy in Marseilles, starts teaching him music at 6 years old
He learns violin at the Conservatoire in Marseilles but alsos drums because he loves jazz. Then he spends a year in Paris at the Conservatoire.
1931: he works as a violonist at the Théâtre des Variétés in marseilles
June 10, 1939 he marries Odette.
At that period he becomes the musical director of some singers, among them Yves Montand, and Lucienne Boyer, with whom he is going to tour the world.
1946: he has a baby- girl named Françoise.
1952: he emigrates to US, and get the Green card and the musician  Union card, because he wants to produce a big band orchestra.
1953, a french producer Maurice Tézé, calls him back in France to record his first record Blue Tango and the follow up Limelight
He gets his first success with this record, and from now, all french singers want to hire Franck, called ‘The American » to be their musical director.
1954 he records his first LP under the label Pathé-Marconi- he will record 9 LPs in 3 years. and will create the serie Amour Danse et Violons which will include 54 LPs
1956, he records his version of  Only You, the success created by yhe Platters ; he will sell over 3 millions copies in the US
Between 1956 and 1972 he is the regular conductor for France at the Eurovision song contest.
1958 he starts recording classical music ; with his serie Pages Célèbres he will record popular classical pieces with 80 musicians, so leading his « Varieties » public to the discovery and appreciation of classical music.
His Pages Célèbres give him the chance to direct famous classical orchestras like :

The London Symphony orchestra
The Society of Concerts for the Conservatoirte
The BBC orchestra ar the Royal Festival Hall
The Lamoureux Orchestra at the Salle Pleyel

His records are distributed in over 50 countries
1962: he composes together with Paul Mauriat and Raymond Lefèvre the famous hit « Chariot » created by Petula Clark and followed up by Little Peggy March as « I will follow Him ».
In 1992 the song will become the main theme of the motion picture Sister Act 1 & 2.

He will record until 1995 with EMI

He achieves, among many other distinctions:

1956: The Grand prix du disque Français
1957: The Grand prix du disque in Brazil
1963: The Golden disc in Venezuela
1965: Amsterdam: The Edison Price (The equivalent of the film Oscars) for his orchestrations of Pop music
1965: Award of the “DISQUE POPULAIRE”
1967: Back to the USA for an important promotion journey. He conducts in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Hollywood…
1968: Golden disc in Colombia for his popularity in this country-Disco Mundo
1969: Grand Prix du disque of the Charles Cros Academy in Paris
1970: Gold record in Japan, for the album “FOR YOUR LOVELY BABY”
1976:Gold record in Japan for “ADORO”

Franck has broken all the selling records of the European orchestras

He dies on November 12, 2000 in Neuilly-France, from Parkinson desease.

Active years: 50s,60s,70s,80s,90s.


Vie d'artiste

Franck Pourcel

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