Described as “a magnetic presence” (New York Classical Review), violinist Alena Baeva is considered one of the most versatile and captivating soloists active on the world stage today. Possessing a passionate musical curiosity, Baeva holds a vast active repertoire: she is a champion of lesser-known works alongside the more mainstream violin literature, including such composers as Bacewicz, Karaev, Karłowicz and Silvestrov.
As an international soloist, Baeva has performed with orchestras including New York Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, NHK Symphony and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony orchestras, Hong Kong and Seoul philharmonic orchestras, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, to name a few. Highlights of this season include The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, Ensemble Resonanz, Il Giardino Armonico, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège. She has worked with leading conductors including Paavo Järvi, Vladimir Jurowski, Cornelius Meister, Riccardo Minasi, Tomáš Netopil, Kazushi Ono, Petr Popelka, Dinis Sousa and Kazuki Yamada.
Chamber music holds a particularly special place in Baeva’s musical life, and she enjoys collaborations with such artists as Yuri Bashmet, Daishin Kashimoto, Misha Maisky, Jean-Guihen Queyras, and the Belcea Quartet. Her regular duo partner is Ukrainian pianist Vadym Kholodenko, and this season will perform at Wigmore Hall, Athens’s Megaron and Amici della Musica in Florence.
Baeva records for the Alpha Classics label: her upcoming album is Vol.1 of the integral cycle of Beethoven violin sonatas, recorded with Vadym Kholodenko. Her previous release Fantasy (Alpha, 2024) was praised by Gramophone as “an intriguing sequence where each work benefits from illumination by its programme neighbours” and features works by Schubert, Stravinsky, Schumann and Messiaen, recorded with Vadym Kholodenko. Baeva’s discography also includes Wieniawski Violin Concerto No.2 on gut strings with Orchestra of the XVIII Century (2021); Karłowicz Violin Concerto with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (2018); Schumann Violin Concerto and original 1844 version of Mendelssohn Violin Concerto for Melodiya Records (2020).
Born in Kyrgyzstan with Slavic-Tatar ancestry, Baeva took her first violin lessons at the age of five under renowned pedagogue Olga Danilova in Kazakhstan before studying with Professor Eduard Grach in Russia. She also took lessons with Mstislav Rostropovich, Boris Garlitsky, and Shlomo Mintz, and took part in the Seiji Ozawa International Academy Switzerland, focused on string quartet repertoire. Naturalised Luxembourgish, Alena Baeva has resided in Luxembourg since 2010.
Alena Baeva plays on the “ex-William Kroll” Guarneri del Gesù of 1738 – on a generous loan from an anonymous patron, with the kind assistance of J&A Beares.