Vilde Frang

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 Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra.

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

Career

In 2007, Frang's debut with London Philharmonic Orchestra in their Eastbourne series lead 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 a Gramophone Award.

Winner of the 2012 Credit Suisse Young Artist Award, Frang performed Sibelius violin concerto with Vienna Philharmonic under Bernard Haitink at the Lucerne Festival.

She made her London Proms debut in 2013, playing Bruch violin concerto with BBC Philharmonic under John Storgards at the Royal Albert Hall.

In 2016, Frang performed Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with Berlin Philharmonic under Simon Rattle as part of their Europe Concert in Røros, Norway.

Frang's solo engagements have included performances with Mahler Chamber Orchestra, BBC Symphony, Philharmonia, Liverpool Philharmonic, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich, Russian National Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Sydney Symphony and the NHK Symphony in Tokyo, with conductors including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Daniel Harding, Mariss Jansons, Leonard Slatkin, Ivan Fischer, Robin Ticciati, Krzysztof Urbanski, Vasily Petrenko, Kent Nagano, Neeme Järvi, David Zinman, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Yuri Temirkanov.

Frang has appeared as soloist, as well as in recital with her regular duo partner Michail Lifits, at concert venues such as Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Tonhalle Zürich, Musikverein Vienna, Wigmore Hall London, Carnegie Hall New York, Salle Pleyel Paris, Tchaikovsky Hall Moscow, and Palais des Beaux Arts Brussels.

As soloist, recitalist and chamber musician she has performed at festivals in Salzburg, Verbier, Gstaad, Lucerne, Utrecht, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Rheingau, Lockenhaus, London Proms, Prague Spring Music Festival and George Enescu Festival Bucharest.

Amongst her collaborators were Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, Martha Argerich, Leif Ove Andsnes, Truls Mørk, Steven Isserlis, Lawrence Power, Janine Jansen and Maxim Vengerov.

Frang holds a professorship at the Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo. She performs on an 1864 Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume violin.

Discography