Australian virtuoso pianist Duncan Gifford was born in Sydney and educated at Newington College, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and in Russia at the Moscow Conservatory. Gifford's impressive record of international piano competition awards began in 1992, when he won the 3rd Prize in the Sydney International Piano Competition, followed by 4th Prize in the 1994 Dublin International Piano Competition and 3rd Prize in the 1996 Montreal International Piano Competition. He was awarded 1st Prize, and the Beethoven and Chopin Prizes, in the 1998 José Iturbi International Piano Competition in Spain 1st Prize in the 1999 Concours Prix Mozart in Lausanne, and 1st Prize in the 2000 Maria Callas Grand Prix de Piano in Athens. Gifford has performed with orchestras and in recitals throughout Europe, Russia, Japan, Australasia, and in the United States of America where he gave his New York Carnegie Hall debut recital in 1999. In 1993 he released his first CD featuring the music of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov. Since 1997, Gifford has been based in Madrid, where he is professor of piano at the Spanish National Academy of Contemporary Music.
