Wonhee Bae - violin 1
Wonhee Bae is internationally recognized as one of today’s leading violinists and chamber musicians. Acclaimed for her expressive musicality, refined artistry, and versatile career as both soloist and ensemble musician, she appears regularly at major concert halls and festivals throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. Based in San Francisco, her international career encompasses solo appearances, chamber music collaborations, recordings, and teaching.
As first violinist and founding member of the internationally acclaimed Esmé Quartet, she has appeared at major venues and festivals including Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Wigmore Hall, Lucerne Festival, Tokyo Suntory Hall, Hong Kong Arts Festival, and L’Auditori. The quartet was awarded First Prize and four special prizes at the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition and has since established itself as one of the leading string quartets on the international stage.
The Esmé Quartet records exclusively for Alpha Classics. Its debut album received a Diapason d’Or and was named one of WQXR’s best classical albums of 2020. The quartet’s third album, Nui, was released in September 2026.
Alongside her chamber music career, Ms. Bae has appeared as soloist with orchestras including the Russian National Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, Iași Philharmonic Orchestra, Korean Chamber Orchestra, Busan Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonie der Nationen, and the Orchestre des Lauréats du Conservatoire de Paris.
Her international distinctions include prizes at the George Enescu International Competition, the Isang Yun Competition, the Lipizer International Violin Competition, and the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians. She was also named the recipient of the Hauck & Aufhäuser Culture Prize in 2013 and received the Ocean Classical Award in 2012.
At the age of fifteen, Ms. Bae entered the Curtis Institute of Music before continuing her studies in Europe. She received her master’s degree from the Royal College of Music under Felix Andrievsky and later studied at the Conservatoire de Paris with Boris Garlitsky and Svetlin Roussev. She completed the Konzertexamen at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln under Mihaela Martin. Ms. Bae is currently Professor of Violin and Chair of String and Piano Chamber Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She performs on a 1737 Januarius Gagliano violin, generously loaned by the Kobler-Reinfeldt Foundation.