About
A Life Steeped in Sound
Born in Seattle, Washington, 20-year-old August Baik currently attends the New England Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Stephen Drury. He has appeared as a soloist with the Virtuosi Bruneses Orchestra (Perugia, Italy), Cascade Symphony Orchestra, Bellevue Symphony, and Tacoma Symphony. Recent solo performance includes: the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s prelude series (Kevin Puts, Tania León, Carlos Simon, Andrew Norman), Helmut Lachenmann @ 90 with the Goethe-Institut Boston, the Marion Rubin Berman '31 Piano Honors Concert (2026: America 250, and 2024: Before and After Schoenberg), and NEC Piano Department: Ives 150, Fauré and Scarlatti, and [nec]shivaree. August also has multiple recordings on NPR Music’s Live Sessions and has performed in Jordan Hall, Benaroya Hall, Sala dei Notari, Basilica di San Pietro and Sauder Concert Hall.
Among his recent achievements: quarterfinalists of Honens International Piano Competition, NEC Piano Honors Competition, Fellow of From the Top, The Sherer International Violin and Piano Competition, King FM Young Artist Awards, Golden Key of Vienna Music Festival (Austria), Chopin Foundation Northwest Council Competition, Pacific NW Piano Competition.
An avid chamber musician, August is an alum of Seattle Chamber Music Society’s Academy and studied with Noah Geller, Efe Baltacigil, Ani Aznavoorian, and Anne-Marie McDermott. He continues to pursue his passion for chamber music through NEC’s Chamber Program. Most recently he has performed with Takács Quartet violist Richard O’Neill in New York and Port Angeles, Washington State. August is also an active participant of NEC’s Community Performances and Partnerships Program, providing music in underserved neighborhoods.
A self-taught composer up until the 2022 and 2023 Seattle Symphony Merriman-Ross Family Young Composers Workshop, d-이-alogues commissioned by the Seattle Symphony for their chamber series featuring Mara Gearman (viola), Will Langlie Miletich (double bass) and Jeffrey Barker (flute) had a successful world premiere in April 2025. The Seattle Symphony recently performed for the second time his symphonic work, Chuseok Overture (2023) as part of the Seattle Symphony’s 2023-2024 Season's Celebrate Asia concert. Tacoma Music Collaborative commissioned and premiered August’s composition, Piano Concerto (2024) with August as the featured soloist.
In addition to being a Fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center for 2026, he has participated in numerous prestigious festivals and conferences including Music Academy of the West, Vivace International Music Festival, Music Fest Perugia, and the Chicago International Music Festival, where he has worked with Jeremy Denk, Conor Hanick, Marc-André Hamelin and Jerome Lowenthal.
August is a Music Academy of the West 2025 Fellow as a recipient of The Toby Donner Scholarship in Solo Piano. He is also a Monika Meyers Clowes Memorial Award and Ida Zelikovsky Green Award Recipient.
As a classical musician based in Boston and Seattle, August Baik is always looking for opportunities to perform and collaborate. He has worked on several noteworthy projects and continues to push himself by stretching his imagination and musical boundaries.