Jenny Bae

Over 1,000 people packed the COEX Auditorium in southern Seoul were wowed by a female electric violinist whose name probably was not familiar to many of them.

Her name is Jenny Bae, a Juilliard graduate who was making her musical stage debut with "Dancing Violin-Barrage," an ensemble of electric violins played by 12 musicians.

The Asian beauty with virtuosic talent is often mistaken for international electric violin superstar Vanessa Mae.

"It’s an honour to be compared to her," Bae said in a recent interview with The Korea Herald.

"But my dream is to be a violinist who Vanessa Mae wants to be like." Mae’s fans might feel skeptical about the idea, but Bae’s talents are apparent and the sweet sound of her music speaks for itself.

When she was only 20, her musical ability was already great enough to allow her to perform with Luciano Pavarotti during a peace concert at the Jamsil Main Stadium in eastern Seoul in 2000.

"I had never played electric violin before, but the expressive freedom that the instrument gives captivated me momentarily," said the violinist.

"In fact, the freedom led me to a deeper understanding of the charms of the sound of the violin."

Actually, Jenny Bae is not a totally unknown name on the international performing arts circuit.

Throughout her rather short professional career as electric violinist, she has guest-performed for many renowned star musicians such as Eric Clapton, Queen, Lionel Richie and Andrea Bocelli.

In December, she was invited to Jose Carreras Gala, a star-studded concert held in Germany to help leukemia patients..

Currently, she is working on her first album The New Face of Asia which will be released both in Korea and abroad.

The album features various oriental instruments including the haegum (traditional Korean fiddle) as well as Western rap music, for which Bae’s agency is known to have contacted Grammy Award winning female rapper Missy Elliott.

The album also contains a few of her own compositions, including "Jade Pass," the title of which came from the name of the most dangerous pass of the Silk Road.

For Bae, though, this year’s soccer World Cup finals hosted by Germany will be a golden chance to make her name known across the globe. She is scheduled to give a congratulatory performance with enormously popular stars as Sting, U2 and Elton John on July 9.

"I’m glad that Korean pop culture is being so much enjoyed throughout Asia.

"I hope I can do my part to make it widely known in Europe too," Bae said with a smile.