Frey, Emil
Frey Walter *26 January 1898 Basel, †27 August 1985 Zurich, brother of Emil, Swiss pianist and teacher. From 1906 to 1913, he studied under F. Niggli (piano) and V. Andreae (theory) at the conservatory in Zurich, and from 1913 to 1916 under W. Rehberg (piano) in Frankfurt am Main. In 1916, he moved to Zurich. In 1921, he became a lecturer at the Musikschule in Winterthur, and in 1925 at the conservatory in Zurich, where he also taught music education and, from 1925 to 1958, led a master piano class. He undertook concert tours in Sweden, Norway, Germany, and Spain. Frey’s repertoire included, alongside classical and Romantic works, many pieces of contemporary piano and chamber music. He was the first performer of concertos by A. Berg, E. Wellesz, F. Martin, and others. As chairman of “Pro Musica” (1934–1960) and of the Zurich branch of the International Society for Contemporary Music, he contributed to the dissemination of over a thousand contemporary compositions. Together with W. Schuh, he edited Schweizerische Klaviermusik aus der Klassik und Romantik, Zurich 1937; 2nd ed. 1957.