Vilde Frang Bjærke (born 19 August 1986) is a Norwegian classical violinist.

Born in Oslo, Norway, Frang began playing the violin by the Suzuki method at the age of four.^[1] She grew up in a musical family with both her father and her sister playing the double bass.^[2] 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.^[3]

Frang made her soloist debut at the age of ten with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra.^[4] 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.^[5] She was aged twelve in 1999 when Mariss Jansons engaged her as a soloist with the Oslo Philharmonic.^[6]

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.^[4][7] Frang received a 2007 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship and also had lessons with Mitsuko Uchida in London.^[3]

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.^[8] In 2008, Vilde Frang signed exclusively to EMI Classics (now Warner Classics).^[7] 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.^[3] 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.^[9]

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.^[9] 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.^[10] In 2016, Frang performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic under Simon Rattle as part of their Europe Concert in Røros, Norway.^[11]

Frang has held a part-time professorship (professor II) at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo since 2013.^[12] Until 2021 she has played an 1864 Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume violin.^[8] Since then she has performed on the 1734 'Rode' Guarneri 'del Gesù' violin, on loan from the Stretton Society.

• Leonie Sonnings Musikfonds (2003)^[13]
• Ritter-Stiftung Grand Prize (2007)^[13]
• Borletti-Buitoni Trust fellowship (2007)^[13]
• The Prince Eugen Culture Prize, 2007^[13] The Danish Queen Ingrid‘s Honorary Prize (2009)^[13]
• The Norwegian soloist prize (2009)^[13]
• Spellemannsprisen, Classical music. For Prokofiev & Sibelius: Violin Concertos. 2009^[14]
• Statoil's Classical Music Award (2010)^[15]
• Edison Klassiek Newcomer Award for Prokofiev & Sibelius: Violin Concertos .2011
• Echo Klassik Award, newcomer award violin for Grieg, Bartók & R.Strauss: Sonatas. 2011^[16]
• Classic Brit Newcomer Award for Prokofiev & Sibelius: Violin Concertos. 2011^[16]
• Crédit Suisse Young Artist Award (2012)^[16]
• Edison Klassiek Chamber Music Award for Grieg, Bartók & R. Straus: Sonatas. 2012
• Preis der Deutschen Schallplatten Kritik (2012) for Nielsen & Tchaikovsky Violin Concertos.
• Echo Klassik Award (2013)^[17]
• Echo Klassik Award (2015)^[18]
• Preis der Deutschen Schallplatten Kritik (2015) for Mozart Violin Concertos 1&5 and Sinfonia Concertante.
• Echo Klassik Award (2016)^[19]
• Gramophone Classical Music Award (2016)^[20]
• Diapason d'or de l'année (2018) for Bartók Violin Concerto No. 1 & Enescu Octet
• Grand Prix L'Acádemie Charles Cros (2018) for Bartók Violin Concerto No. 1 and Enescu Octet
• BBC Music Magazine Award (Chamber Award) 2020 for Veress String Trio & Bartók Piano Quintet.
• Gramophone Classical Music Award (Chamber Category) (2020) for Veress String Trio & Bartók Piano Quintet.
• ICMA (International Classical Music Award) (Concertos Category) (2023) for Beethoven & Stravinsky Violin Concertos.
• Preis der Deutschen Schallplatten Kritik (2023) for Beethoven & Stravinsky Violin Concertos.

• Prokofiev & Sibelius: Violin Concertos (2009). With WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln and Thomas Søndergård (conductor). EMI Classics
• Grieg, Bartók, R. Strauss: Violin Sonatas (2011). With Michail Lifits (piano). EMI Classics
• Nielsen & Tchaikovsky: Violin Concertos (2012). With Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Eivind Gullberg Jensen (conductor). EMI Classics
• Mozart: Violin Concertos 1&5 and Sinfonia Concertante (2015). With Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen (conductor) and Maxim Rysanov (viola). Warner Classics
• Korngold & Britten: Violin Concertos (2016). With Frankfurt Radio Symphony and James Gaffigan (conductor). Warner Classics
• Homage (2017). With José Gallardo (piano). Warner Classics
• Bartók Violin Concerto No.1 & Enescu Octet (2018). With Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Mikko Franck (conductor), Erik Schumann, Gabriel Le Magadure, Rosanne Philippens, violins; Lawrence Power, Lily Francis, violas; Nicolas Altstaedt and Jan-Erik Gustafsson, cellos. Warner Classics
• Veress: String Trio & Bartók: Piano Quintet (2019). With Barnabás Kelemen, violin; Katalin Kokas and Lawrence Power, violas; Nicolas Altstaedt, cello and Alexander Lonquich, piano. Alpha Classics
• Paganini & Schubert: Works for violin and piano (2019). With Michail Lifits (piano). Warner Classics
• Beethoven: Songs and Folksongs (2020). With Ian Bostridge (song), Antonio Pappano (piano) and Nicolas Altstaedt (cello). Warner Classics
• Beethoven & Stravinsky: Violin Concertos (2022). With The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and Pekka Kuusisto (conductor). Warner Classics