Deborah Pae, Cello

Biography

Hailed by Gramophone Magazine as “exceptionally gifted” and “breathtaking," cellist Deborah Pae is captivating audiences with her “superb tone...a high level of interpretative intelligence” and “tremendous technical assurance” (Transcentury Blog).

Since her orchestral debut at age sixteen with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Pae has enjoyed concerto appearances with Sinfonia Varsovia of Poland, Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, Ensemble Orchestral de Bruxelles, the Westchester Philharmonic, and Livingston Symphony Orchestra with conductors Vassily Sinaisky, Thomas Wilkins, Christian Arming, Augustin Dumay, and Itzhak Perlman. She has also received major awards from the Frank Huntington Beebe Fund, Belgian American Educational Foundation, DoMusica Foundation and National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, and top prizes at the NJSO Young Artist Auditions and King Award International Competition.

Ms. Pae has been a performing artist at many of the world’s most prestigious festivals including Marlboro, Ravinia, Crans-Montana Classics, Amsterdam Cello Biënnale, International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove, and Perlman Music Program. In 2005, she made her European recital debut at Musée du Louvre to an overwhelming response and since then, has appeared at the invitation of Palais des Beaux-Arts, Flagey Radio Hall, Musée de Grenoble, Neue Galerie, and the Van Wezel Foundation’s Young Artists Series.

Ms. Pae enjoys exploring new and rarely performed works, and her debut recording, released by Zig-Zag Territoire label, features the seldom played Second Cello Concerto in D minor by Saint-Saëns with conductor Christian Arming and the Liège Philharmonique. The CD has garnered praise from Supersonic Pizzicato, de Classica, and Gramophone Magazines and was the ‘Editor’s Choice’ of Diapason Magazine (France). She has also given the world premieres of Fantasia Festa (2009) by Jonathan Crehan and Le Dormeur du Val (2012) by Roberto Kalb. Currently, award-winning American composer Jeffrey Mumford is writing a new concerto for cello and chamber orchestra titled “of radiances blossoming in expanding air” for Ms. Pae. This work will enjoy its world premiere in London with the English Symphony Orchestra (ESO) during the 2017-18 season followed by the U.S. premiere with the Boston (USA) based orchestral ensemble, Phoenix.

A devoted chamber musician, Ms. Pae's performances have been admired for their “vivid” and “novel vitality” (Boston Musical Intelligencer). She has shared the stage with many of the world’s celebrated artists including Miriam Fried, Pamela Frank, Kim Kashkashian, Roel Dieltiens, Charles Neidich, and members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, Johannes, Pro Arte, Takács, and Cleveland String Quartets. In 2012, she participated in the Musicians from Ravinia (Steans Music Institute) tour and has been an artist at Open Chamber Music at Prussia Cove, Schiermonnikoog Festival, Ravinia ‘Rising Star’ Series, and Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her piano trio, Trio Modêtre, are recipients of the silver medal at the 2012 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition.

Ms. Pae’s television credits include the 45th GRAMMY Awards in New York, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences honoring legendary cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, Medici TV, PBS, CBS, and Plum TV. She has also been broadcast on Radio France, VIP Radio France, RTBF-MUSIQ3, Vermont Public Radio, and on numerous occasions, 98.7 WFMT Chicago (Chamber Music from Ravinia and Live from the Mayne Stage).

Born in the United States to Korean parents, Ms. Pae began the cello at the age of four and three years later became the youngest cellist accepted into the Juilliard Pre-College Division. She holds a Bachelors degree from the Juilliard School, a Masters from the New England Conservatory, and an Artist Diploma from the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapelle in Belgium where she was Artist-in-Residence from 2012-2015. Her most prominent mentors include Gary Hoffman, Laurence Lesser, and Joel Krosnick, and violinists Miriam Fried and Sylvia Rosenberg and violist Kim Kashkashian.

Ms. Pae plays a Vincenzo Postiglione cello (c. 1885) generously on loan from the Arts and Letters Foundation.