Award-winning Galamian student has died, aged 58
mainIk-Hwan Bae, a South Korean violinist who made his Seoul Philharmonic debut aged 12, died today. A Juilliard graduate, he came second at the 1985 Reine Elisabeth and went on to form his own chamber orchestra in Korea. He was a sought-after teacher at Peabody, IU, Manhattan and Seoul.
He was also a teacher at Indiana university. Rest in peace professor Bae!
I can’t tell you how shocked all of us who knew Ik-Hwan are. He was one of those superb musicians who despite incredible achievements lie a little under the obvious radar and yet contribute to the world in so many ways.
He was first of all a loving father to Subin and husband to Sung-Mi. I saw them together many times at Kuhmo, and the end of this year’s festival is coloured dark by the news of his death. He was a completely superb player, utterly reliable in every way, with reserves of power that were quite unexpected. He was also a wonderfully generous teacher, always prepared to go the extra mile for his students.
57 is too young for us to have lost him, and honestly it hurts. He was one of us.