Korean-born New Zealander conductor and pianist Jason Bae is establishing a prominent presence on the European stage, recently being selected as one of the three final candidates for the Assistant Conductor position at the Auditorium-Orchestre National de Lyon. He received his Master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm having been awarded the full Swedish National Scholarship as its sole recipient. During his studies, he conducted several major Swedish orchestras, including the Gävle Symphony Orchestra, Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, The Orchestra of NorrlandsOperan, the Stockholm contemporary ensemble “KammarensembleN”, The Royal Swedish Navy Band, Swedish Armed Forces The Royal Guard’s Dragoon Military Band, and the Västerås Sinfonietta. Additionally, he led opera productions of Cimarosa’s Il Matrimonio Segreto and Mozart’s Don Giovanni with the Stockholms Konstnärliga Högskola Opera.

On the podium, he conducted the Orchestre National de Cannes under the guidance of Benjamin Levy and led the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra in a masterclass with Sergey Smbatyan. That same year, he was invited as an Assistant Conductor for the Vienna Opera Academy. In 2024, he was selected for the Talent Norge Elite Conducting Program, conducting the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in a masterclass led by Antony Hermus, and was appointed conductor for the Romanian National Opera Cluj-Napoca ‘Lya Hubic’ Opera Studio. In 2023, he was invited to the Lead Foundation Fiskars Festival for young conductors being mentored by maestros Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Dalia Stasevska, and James Gaffigan. His other masterclass engagements include working with Osmo Vänskä, Jukka-Pekka Saraste with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and Jorma Panula with the South Denmark Philharmonic Orchestra. He also served as a Fellowship Programme Conductor for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (2020–21) and was named one of the four final candidates for the Assistant Conductor position at the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra in 2020.

Prior to his focus on conducting, Jason maintained an active solo career as a concert pianist. He received his first Master of Arts in Piano Performance with the highest distinction award, 'DipRAM', at the Royal Academy of Music in London as a student of Christopher Elton. He made his concerto debut with the Auckland Symphony Orchestra at age twelve, and a year later became the youngest concerto soloist to perform with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. In 2008, his first-prize win at the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition in New York led to a performance at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. In 2016, he was invited to give a recital for the World Pianist Series at London's St Martin-in-the-Fields. He subsequently released his debut piano album, Marylebone, with the Austrian Gramophone label in Vienna, becoming an official Steinway Artist that same year—a status he actively maintains today.

During the strict pandemic-era border closures in New Zealand from 2020 to 2022, Jason founded the Afflatus Ensemble to provide performance platforms for aspiring young musicians across the country. Upon the reopening of international borders in 2022, he invited global instrumentalists to join the ensemble, expanding its concert presence across Asia, Europe, and Scandinavia. Following his return to Sweden, he further solidified his standing on the European podium. After conducting Richard Strauss's Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche with the Malmö Opera, he was awarded the prestigious National Scholarship for Orchestral Conducting (Nationella Stipendium) in 2023 by the Royal Swedish Academy of Music (Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien) — the historic institution that hosted the inaugural Nobel Prize ceremonies.