James Baik

“an undeniable authority”

– Le Soir

Cellist James Baik has been described as an artist with “an undeniable authority,” and one possessing “a real warmth emerging in lyricism” by Belgian newspaper Le Soir, after his astounding performance at the 2021 Queen Elisabeth competition. Winner of the 2023 Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions and recipient of the Paul A. Fish Memorial Prize and the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Prize, James is a YCA Jacobs Fellow and is managed worldwide by Young Concert Artists.

Highlights from recent performances include the Dvořák Cello Concerto with the Colburn Orchestra, under the baton of Sir Andrew Davies at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C Major with the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie with conductor Vahan Mardirossian, Brahms’ Double Concerto alongside violinist Gabrielle Després and the Peninsula Symphony under the baton of Mitchell Sardou Klein, and chamber music performances at the Ravinia Festival, the Music in the Vineyards Festival in Napa Valley, and Nevada Chamber Music Festival, where he was invited as a guest artist. In 2021, James, alongside his colleagues violinist Ray Ushikubo and pianist HyeJin Kim, performed the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Pasadena Symphony under the baton of David Lockington, where he also performed a new work for two celli with the conductor as composer and cellist.

An active chamber musician, James plays as a regular member of the Galvin Cello Quartet and a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s prestigious Bowers Program. He has worked with many notable musicians such as Noah Bendix-Balgley, David Finckel, Wu Han, Emanuel Ax, Arnaud Sussmann, Dmitri Murrath, Miriam Fried, Gary Hoffman, Tessa Lark, Gilbert Kalish, Bob McDonald, David McCarroll, members of the Tokyo String Quartet, the American String Quartet, the Pacifica String Quartet, and the Escher String Quartet. James attended the Meadowmount School of Music and the Aspen Music Festival, where he participated in the Finckel Wu Han Chamber Music Program, and was invited as a guest artist for the Music of the Vineyards Festival. Recently, James was a fellow at the Ravinia Steans Music Institute, where he gave widely-praised performances of Rachmaninoff’s Cello Sonata and the Franck Sonata in A Major.

His recent and upcoming recital and chamber music appearances include engagements at the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Rockport Music, Newport Classical, BIG ARTS Sanibel Island, the Buffalo Chamber Music Society, the Hayden’s Ferry Chamber Music Series, The Morgan Library & Museum in New York, the Kennedy Center, and Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center in New York. Recent concerto appearances feature performances with the Mobile Symphony, Brevard Music Center, Riverside Symphony, and the Lake Placid Sinfonietta, among others.

During the 26–27 season, in addition to James’ robust touring schedule with the Galvin Cello Quartet, he will also perform Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with the Greenwich Symphony, as well as Haydn’s C Major Cello Concerto with the Loudoun Symphony Orchestra and the Kansas City Symphony on subscription.

Raised in Houston, Texas, James studied with Houston Symphony Associate Principal Christopher French and later with esteemed pedagogue Hans Jørgen Jensen in Chicago. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree from the Colburn Conservatory of Music, where he was a student of Clive Greensmith.

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YCA represents cellist James Baik for worldwide engagements. Please contact us for more information.