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