Her Norwegian-born father, Ingwald Wicks (Ingvald Kristian Eriksen Varhaugvik), was a distinguished violinist and teacher.

Wicks made her name as a child prodigy,[3] making her solo debut at age 7 with Mozart's Violin Concerto No.

[4] In the next decade, Wicks performed regularly with many of the world's finest conductors (Walter, Reiner, Stokowski, Rodzinski, Ehrling) and orchestras.

Finnish composer Jean Sibelius greatly admired her interpretation of his concerto, of which she made a recording in 1952 for the Capitol label.

Wicks was an advocate of contemporary Scandinavian composers: she performed concertos by Fartein Valen and Hilding Rosenberg, and gave the world premiere of those by Harald Saeverud and Klaus Egge.

[9] Wicks was invited to head the String Department at the Oslo Royal Academy in the early 1970s and was awarded a lifetime Professorship there.