Stephan Barratt-Due

Stephan Barratt-Due is a third-generation violinist in the long-standing Barratt-Due musical family. Since his debut in 1981, he has been an extremely active performer as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral leader, touring extensively in Norway and internationally, and participating in numerous CD and TV recordings. Since 1985, Stephan Barratt-Due has served as the rector and artistic director of the Barratt Due Institute of Music.

He studied violin at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, at the Académie Internationale de Musique de Chambre in the Netherlands, with Professor Alberto Lysy at the International Menuhin Music Academy in Switzerland, and with Camilla Wicks at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He plays a violin made by J. B. Guadagnini in 1751, on loan from Dextra Musica.

Following a remarkable debut with a recital and as an orchestral soloist in 1981, Stephan Barratt-Due has been a central figure in Norwegian musical life. From 1990 to 1996, he was artistic director of the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra. At the same time, he co-founded and served as artistic director of the Kristiansand Chamber Music Festival. Since 1998, he has been the artistic director of the chamber orchestra Oslo Camerata, “Orchestra in Residence” at the Barratt Due Institute of Music. Oslo Camerata has gained recognition through frequent performances in Norway, many European countries, South America, and Asia, as well as TV productions and CD recordings for labels including Naxos International.

Barratt-Due took over the leadership of the Barratt Due Institute of Music (BDM) in 1985, and since then the institute has developed into a significant institution in music education and training in Norway. Today, BDM is recognized as a national leader in talent development, and many of the country’s leading musicians have emerged from this environment.

Stephan Barratt-Due’s personal work as an educator is extensive. Many of his former violin students are now among Norway’s leading musicians and soloists internationally, including Vilde Frang, Henning Kraggerud, Øyvind Bjorå, Ragnhild and Eldbjørg Hemsing, Guro Kleven Hagen, Sonoko Miriam Welde, Ludvig Gudim, Mari Silje Samuelsen, and Catharina Chen. He is also well known for his duo collaboration with violist and violinist Soon-Mi Chung; the two were married until 2015. For their significant contributions to Norwegian musical life and pedagogy, they have received numerous awards together, including the Lindeman Prize (2007), Oslo City Culture Prize (1998), Anders Jahre Cultural Prize (2010), and the Norwegian Arts Council Honorary Award (2012). Barratt-Due also received the Bergesen Prize in 2000.

Stephan Barratt-Due has been appointed Knight 1st Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav and Knight 1st Class of the Order of the Lion of Finland.