Deborah Pae (Deborah Pae), Cello

Biography

At only twenty-one years old, cellist Deborah Pae is captivating audiences on world stages as a seasoned recitalist and chamber musician. She has appeared in recital at the invitation of the Louvre Recital Series in Paris and Musée de Grenoble, the Colony Club, Young Musicians Forum, Neue Galerie (NY), Artists Ascending Recital Series (TN), and the Van Wezel Foundation’s Young Artists Series (FL). Ms. Pae has also been featured in performances at several festivals including the Perlman Music Program, Kneisel Hall, the 7th Adam International Cello Festival in New Zealand, the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove, and has participated in master classes by Wolfgang Emmanuel Schmidt, Ralph Kirshbaum, Itzhak Perlman, and Donald Weilerstein.

In March 2006, Ms. Pae became the first cellist in 16 years to receive the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s first prize Henry Lewis Award in their 30th Annual Young Artist Auditions. She made her solo debut with the NJSO in a series of concerts at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and Red Bank Theatre, and has also performed as soloist with the Livingston Symphony Orchestra and Westchester Philharmonic. She has appeared at the 45th Annual Grammy Awards at Madison Square Garden, and the Recording Academy’s 7th Annual Grammy “Salute to Classical Music,” honoring legendary cellist Mstislav Rostropovich.

As an avid chamber musician, Ms. Pae has been hailed by the New York Times as “an alert cellist, [who] provided a solid foundation” after performing Mozart’s String Quintet in G minor with violinist Itzhak Perlman at the Metropolitan Museum. As alumna of the Perlman Music Program, she has collaborated on many occasions with Mr. Perlman and traveled with the program to Israel, China, and Sarasota, Florida. She has appeared on PBS’s “Live From Lincoln Center” in 2003 and CBS’s Kennedy Center Honors with Itzhak Perlman and Pinkas Zuckerman, as well as Radio France in her European debut at the L’Auditorium du Louvre in 2005.

Ms. Pae has enjoyed collaborating and working with a multitude of artists including members of the Juilliard, Emerson, and Cavanni String Quartets, Barbara Stein Mallow, Roger Tapping, Seymour Lipkin, Gilbert Kalish, Laurie Smukler, Ronald Leonard, Thomas Wilkins, and Patti Monson. She has made several appearances at the New York Society of Ethical Culture, Zankel and Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall as well as the Kennedy Center and Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium at the United Nations.

Ms. Pae began her musical studies at the age of four and is currently pursuing her undergraduate studies at the Juilliard School with Joel Krosnick. She enjoys being involved in music education and outreach, and has spent her time as a chamber music and orchestra mentor at the Juilliard Pre-College and Kneisel Hall. She plays on a 1756 José Contreras cello generously on loan from the Juilliard School.