Biography

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 2022 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 concerto appearances 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, Schumann’s Cello Concerto with the Brevard Music Center, Beethoven' s Triple Concerto with the Mobile Symphony, Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations with the Riverside Symphony, and Brahms’ Double Concerto alongside the Peninsula Symphony. During the 26-27 season, he will be making his debuts with the Greenwich Symphony, the Loudoun Symphony Orchestra and the Kansas City Symphony on subscription.

An active chamber musician, James is a new member of the Chamber Music Society at Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program, where he makes regular appearances at Alice Tully Hall and CMS on Tour. James is also a member of the regularly touring Galvin Cello Quartet, an ensemble that is rapidly gaining attention and managed by Dinin Arts. He has played with many notable musicians such as Noah Bendix-Balgley, Augustin Hadelich, Miriam Fried, Orion Weiss, Vadim Gluzman, Alexander Sitkovetsky, and Atar Arad. His recent and upcoming recital and chamber music appearances include engagements at the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Rockport Music Festival, Newport Classical, Ravinia Festival, 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, Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center in New York, and Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall.

Raised in Houston, Texas, James studied with Houston Symphony Associate Principal Christopher French and later with esteemed pedagogue Hans Jørgen Jensen in Chicago. James holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Colburn Conservatory of Music, and is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma with Clive Greensmith. He plays on a G.B Guadagnini cello on generous loan.