Vilde Frang

Vilde Frang Bjærke (born 19 August 1986) is a Norwegian classical violinist.

Vilde Frang
Vilde Frang in 2017
Born (1986-08-19) 19 August 1986 (age 37)
Oslo, Norway
Education
OccupationViolinist

Early life and education

Born in Oslo, Norway, Frang began playing the violin by the Suzuki method at the age of four.[1] She grew up in a musical family with both her father and her sister playing the double bass.[2] In the years 1993–2002 she studied with Stephan Barratt-Due, Alf Richard Kraggerud and Henning Kraggerud at the Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo.[3]

Frang made her soloist debut at the age of ten with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra.[4] In 1998 she was introduced to Anne-Sophie Mutter, who became her mentor and later appointed her a scholarship holder in the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation.[5] She was aged twelve in 1999 when Mariss Jansons engaged her as a soloist with the Oslo Philharmonic.[6]

From 2003 to 2009 Frang continued her studies in Germany, with Kolja Blacher at Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg and Ana Chumachenco at the Kronberg Academy.[4][7] Frang received a 2007 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship and also had lessons with Mitsuko Uchida in London.[3]

Career

In 2007, Frang's debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in their Eastbourne series led to a re-engagement in the following season, under Vladimir Jurowski at the Royal Festival Hall.[8] In 2008, Vilde Frang signed exclusively to EMI Classics (now Warner Classics).[7] Her debut album was released in 2009 and received high praise from critics and audiences alike, and she was named EMI Classics' Young Artist of the Year 2010.[3] Her recordings for EMI / Warner Classics have received numerous awards including a Classical BRIT, Deutsche Schallplattenpreis twice, four ECHO Klassik Awards, two Edisson Klassiek Awards, Diapason d'Or and two Gramophone Awards.[9]

Winner of the 2012 Credit Suisse Young Artist Award, Frang performed the Sibelius violin concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic under Bernard Haitink at the Lucerne Festival.[9] In 2013 she made her London Proms debut, playing the Bruch Violin Concerto with the BBC Philharmonic under John Storgards at the Royal Albert Hall.[10] In 2016, Frang performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic under Simon Rattle as part of their Europe Concert in Røros, Norway.[11]

Frang has held a part-time professorship (professor II) at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo since 2013.[12] Until 2021 she has played an 1864 Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume violin.[8] Since then she has performed on the 1734 'Rode' Guarneri 'del Gesù' violin, on loan from the Stretton Society.

Awards

  • Leonie Sonnings Musikfonds (2003)[13]
  • Ritter-Stiftung Grand Prize (2007)[13]
  • Borletti-Buitoni Trust fellowship (2007)[13]
  • The Prince Eugen Culture Prize, 2007[13] The Danish Queen Ingrid‘s Honorary Prize (2009)[13]
  • The Norwegian soloist prize (2009)[13]
  • Spellemannsprisen, Classical music. For Prokofiev & Sibelius: Violin Concertos. 2009[14]
  • Statoil's Classical Music Award (2010)[15]
  • Edison Klassiek Newcomer Award for Prokofiev & Sibelius: Violin Concertos .2011
  • Echo Klassik Award, newcomer award violin for Grieg, Bartók & R.Strauss: Sonatas. 2011[16]
  • Classic Brit Newcomer Award for Prokofiev & Sibelius: Violin Concertos. 2011[16]
  • Crédit Suisse Young Artist Award (2012)[16]
  • Edison Klassiek Chamber Music Award for Grieg, Bartók & R. Straus: Sonatas. 2012
  • Preis der Deutschen Schallplatten Kritik (2012) for Nielsen & Tchaikovsky Violin Concertos.
  • Echo Klassik Award (2013)[17]
  • Echo Klassik Award (2015)[18]
  • Preis der Deutschen Schallplatten Kritik (2015) for Mozart Violin Concertos 1&5 and Sinfonia Concertante.
  • Echo Klassik Award (2016)[19]
  • Gramophone Classical Music Award (2016)[20]
  • Diapason d'or de l'année (2018) for Bartók Violin Concerto No. 1 & Enescu Octet
  • Grand Prix L'Acádemie Charles Cros (2018) for Bartók Violin Concerto No. 1 and Enescu Octet
  • BBC Music Magazine Award (Chamber Award) 2020 for Veress String Trio & Bartók Piano Quintet.
  • Gramophone Classical Music Award (Chamber Category) (2020) for Veress String Trio & Bartók Piano Quintet.
  • ICMA (International Classical Music Award) (Concertos Category) (2023) for Beethoven & Stravinsky Violin Concertos.
  • Preis der Deutschen Schallplatten Kritik (2023) for Beethoven & Stravinsky Violin Concertos.

Discography

  • Prokofiev & Sibelius: Violin Concertos (2009). With WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln and Thomas Søndergård (conductor). EMI Classics
  • Grieg, Bartók, R. Strauss: Violin Sonatas (2011). With Michail Lifits (piano). EMI Classics
  • Nielsen & Tchaikovsky: Violin Concertos (2012). With Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Eivind Gullberg Jensen (conductor). EMI Classics
  • Mozart: Violin Concertos 1&5 and Sinfonia Concertante (2015). With Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen (conductor) and Maxim Rysanov (viola). Warner Classics
  • Korngold & Britten: Violin Concertos (2016). With Frankfurt Radio Symphony and James Gaffigan (conductor). Warner Classics
  • Homage (2017). With José Gallardo (piano). Warner Classics
  • Bartók Violin Concerto No.1 & Enescu Octet (2018). With Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Mikko Franck (conductor), Erik Schumann, Gabriel Le Magadure, Rosanne Philippens, violins; Lawrence Power, Lily Francis, violas; Nicolas Altstaedt and Jan-Erik Gustafsson, cellos. Warner Classics
  • Veress: String Trio & Bartók: Piano Quintet (2019). With Barnabás Kelemen, violin; Katalin Kokas and Lawrence Power, violas; Nicolas Altstaedt, cello and Alexander Lonquich, piano. Alpha Classics
  • Paganini & Schubert: Works for violin and piano (2019). With Michail Lifits (piano). Warner Classics
  • Beethoven: Songs and Folksongs (2020). With Ian Bostridge (song), Antonio Pappano (piano) and Nicolas Altstaedt (cello). Warner Classics
  • Beethoven & Stravinsky: Violin Concertos (2022). With The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and Pekka Kuusisto (conductor). Warner Classics

References

Awards
Preceded by Recipient of the classical music Spellemannprisen
2017
Succeeded by