TITLE: Convexity of matrix trace functions $A\mapsto \operatorname{Tr} (Bf(A))$
QUESTION [6 upvotes]: Any function $f:\mathbb{R}\rightarrow\mathbb{R}$ is can be extended to a function on self-adjoint $n\times n$ matrices by
$$
f(A) = \sum_{i=1}^n f(a_i)v_iv_i^*
$$
where $A = \sum_{i=1}^n a_iv_iv_i^*$ is the spectral decomposition of $A$. 
If $f:\mathbb{R}\rightarrow\mathbb{R}$ is convex, then the function $A\mapsto  \operatorname{Tr}(f(A))$ is also convex as a function of matrices. (See e.g. Theorem 3.27 in Introduction to Matrix Analysis and Applications, or see proof below).
My question: If $f:\mathbb{R}\rightarrow\mathbb{R}$ is convex, is the function 
$$\tag{1}
A\mapsto \operatorname{Tr}(Bf(A))
$$
convex for any self-adjoint positive matrix $B\geq 0$?
I'm wondering if the following proofs might be adapted to show convexity of (1). Here I show that $A\mapsto\operatorname{Tr}f(A)$ is a convex function as long as $f$ is convex. I can't get a similar proof to work to show convexity of $A\mapsto\operatorname{Tr}(Bf(A))$, nor can I find a counterexample. 
Lemma.
Suppose $f:\mathbb{R}\rightarrow\mathbb{R}$ is convex and let $A$ be a self-adjoint $n\times n$ matrix. For any orthonormal basis $\{u_1,\dots,u_n\}$ of $\mathbb{C}^n$, it holds that
$$
\operatorname{Tr}f(A)\geq \sum_{j=1}^n f(u_j^*Au_j).
$$
Proof. Let $A = \sum_{i=1}^n a_iv_iv_i^*$ be the spectral decomposition of $A$. Then $\sum_{j=1}^{n}|u_j^*v_i|^2=1$ for each $j$ and 
\begin{align*}
\operatorname{Tr}f(A) 
&= \sum_{j=1}^n\sum_{i=1}^n f(a_i) |u_j^*v_i|^2\\
& \geq \sum_{j=1} f \left(\sum_{i=1}^na_i |u_j^*v_i|^2\right)= \sum_{j=1}f (u_j^*Au_j)
\end{align*}
where the inequality is due to the convexity of $f$. $\Box$
Theorem.
Let $f:\mathbb{R}\rightarrow\mathbb{R}$ be convex. Then $A\mapsto \operatorname{Tr}f(A)$ is convex as a function of matrices.
Proof. Let $A$ and $B$ be self-adjoint $n\times n$ matrices and let $t\in(0,1)$. We will show that $$t\operatorname{Tr}f(A)+(1-t)\operatorname{Tr}f(B)\geq \operatorname{Tr}(f(tA+(1-t)B)).$$ Let $\{u_1,\dots,u_n\}$ be the eigenbasis of $tA+(1-t)B$. By the Lemma,
\begin{align*}
t\operatorname{Tr}f(A)+(1-t)\operatorname{Tr}f(B)
& \geq t\sum_{j=1}^n f(u_j^*Au_j) + (1-t)\sum_{j=1}^nf(u_j^*Bu_j)\\
& = \sum_{j=1}^n\bigl(tf(u_j^*Au_j) + (1-t)f(u_j^*Bu_j)\bigr)\\
& \geq \sum_{j=1}^nf\bigl(tu_j^*Au_j+ (1-t)u_j^*Bu_j)\\
& = \sum_{j=1}^nf\bigl(u_j^*(tA+(1-t))Bu_j)\\
& = \operatorname{Tr}(f(tA+(1-t)B)),
\end{align*}
as desired, where the second inequality is due to convexity of $f$. $\Box$

REPLY [5 votes]: After reading user1551's answer, I have subsequently realized that my question can be answered in the negative as follows. 
For $n\times n$ matrices, we write $A\geq 0$ if $A$ is positive semidefinite, and $A\geq B$ if $A-B\geq 0$.  We say a function $f:\mathbb{R}\rightarrow\mathbb{R}$ is matrix convex if, for all integers $n$, it holds that
$$
f(tA+(1-t)B)\leq tf(A)+(1-t)f(B)
$$
for all $n\times n$ hermitian matrices $A,B$ and all $t\in(0,1)$, where the inequality is respect to the ordering of positive semidefinite matrices. 
Theorem Let $f:\mathbb{R}\rightarrow\mathbb{R}$ be a function. The following are equivalent:

$f$ is matrix convex
For all integers $n$ and all $n\times n$ matrices $B\geq 0$, the function $A\mapsto \operatorname{Tr}(Bf(A))$ is convex.

Proof. If $f$ is matrix convex then the result clearly follows. So suppose that $f$ is not matrix convex. Then there exists an $n$ and $n\times n$ hermitian matrices $A$ and $B$ and $t\in(0,1)$ such that
$$
f(tA+(1-t)B)\not\leq tf(A)+(1-t)f(B).
$$
Thus there is a vector $v\in\mathbb{C}^n$ such that
$$
v^*\bigl(f(tA+(1-t)B)\bigr)v >tv^*f(A)v+(1-t)v^*f(B)v
$$
which is equivalent to
$$
\operatorname{Tr}\bigl(vv^*f(tA+(1-t)B)\bigr) >t \operatorname{Tr}\bigl(vv^*f(A)\bigr) + (1-t)\operatorname{Tr}\bigl(vv^*f(B)\bigr),
$$
hence the function $A\mapsto \operatorname{Tr}(vv^*f(A))$ is not convex.