Benjamin Baker, violin

Benjamin Baker, a New Zealand native, has moved audiences around the world with his musicianship, with recent performances as far afield as Lebanon, Albania, Siberia, China, Australia, New Zealand, Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela, and throughout United Kingdom and United States. He has performed as soloist with the Royal Philharmonic in London, English Chamber Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, London Mozart Players, Bristol Metropolitan Orchestra, Sinfonia Cymru in Wales, National Children's Orchestra in Manchester, Auckland Philharmonia, Maui Pops Orchestra, and South Carolina’s Long Bay Symphony. He has been reengaged to appear with the English Chamber Orchestra this season, performing the Strauss Concerto.

After winning First Prize and special performances prizes at the 2016 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Benjamin Baker’s first U.S. tour included recital debuts on the Young Concert Artists Series at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and at New York's Merkin Concert Hall, sponsored by the Peter Jay Sharp Prize. He has also given recitals at Wigmore Hall in London, in Ireland, performed multiple engagements at New York’s Caramoor Center, and appeared at the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Port Washington Library, Haydn's Ferry Chamber Music Series, Jewish Community Alliance and Levine School of Music. This season the Young Concert Artists Series presents him in a special encore performance with pianist Daniel Lebhardt at New York’s Morgan Library & Museum, and he also performs at Ithaca College and the Evergreen Museum & Library.

Mr. Baker’s recording “The Last Rose of Summer” on Champs Hill Records, which includes works by Beethoven, Strauss and Kreisler, was featured on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM, and reached #22 on the charts the first week of release. He was a Fellow at the Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, won representation with London’s Young Classical Artists Trust in 2013, and captured First Prize at the Windsor Festival International String Competition.

By popular demand, Benjamin Baker has returned to New Zealand to play concerts and appear on radio and television broadcasts. For his devotion to charities for children, he is grateful to be an Honorary Member of the Rotary Club of Port Nicholson, and he created and led a special London Music Masters project for young violinists with dancer Cheryl McChesney, which explored the connection between music and movement.

Currently a resident of London, Benjamin Baker studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School and with Natasha Boyarsky and Felix Andrievsky at the Royal College of Music, where he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Rose Bowl graduation prize. He plays a Tononi violin (1709) on generous loan, and is recipient of support from the Wallace Foundation and Carne Trust.