Damase was born inBordeaux, the son of harpistMicheline Kahn.[2] He was studying piano and solfège withMarcel Samuel-Rousseau at the age of five and composing by age nine.[3] His first work (at the age of nine) was a setting of some poems byColette, whom he had met at a Parisian salon.[1] In 1940, Damase began studying piano withAlfred Cortot at the École Normale de Musique.[4] The next year, he was admitted to theConservatoire de Paris, entering Armand Ferté’s piano classes[4] and winning first prize for piano in 1943,[3] afterwards studying withHenri Büsser,Marcel Dupré andClaude Delvincourt for composition[3] and winning first prize for composition in 1947 for his Quintet for flute, harp, violin, viola, and cello.[4] In the same year, he won theGrand Prix de Rome[5] for his cantataEt la belle se réveilla.[4] Meanwhile, he appeared as a piano soloist in the Colonne and Conservatoire concerts, and with the Orchestre National of the ORTF.[4]
He made the first complete recording ofGabriel Fauré's nocturnes and barcarolles, for which he received theGrand Prix du Disque.[6]
