Vilde Frang | |
|---|---|
 Vilde Frang in 2017 | |
| Born | 19 August 1986 Oslo, Norway |
| Education | |
| Occupation | Violinist |
Vilde Frang Bjærke (born 19 August 1986) is a Norwegian classical violinist.
Born in Oslo, Norway, Frang began playing the violin by the Suzuki method at the age of four.[1] 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.[2]
Frang made her soloist debut at the age of ten with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra.[3] 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.[4] She was aged twelve in 1999 when Mariss Jansons engaged her as a soloist with the Oslo Philharmonic.[5]
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.[3][6] Frang received a 2007 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship and also had lessons with Mitsuko Uchida in London.[2]
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.[7] In 2008, Vilde Frang signed exclusively to EMI Classics (now Warner Classics).[6] 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.[2] 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.[8]
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.[8] 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.[9] In 2016, Frang performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic under Simon Rattle as part of their Europe Concert in Røros, Norway.[10]
Frang has held a part-time professorship (professor II) at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo since 2013.[11] Until 2021 she has played an 1864 Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume violin.[7] Since then she has performed on the 1734 'Rode' Guarneri 'del Gesù' violin, on loan from the Stretton Society.
