Hilary Hahn (born November 27, 1979) is an American violinist. She has performed throughout the world as a soloist with leading orchestras and conductors and as a recitalist. She is an avid supporter of
contemporary classical music, and several composers have written works for her, including
concerti
A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typi ...
by
Edgar Meyer
Edgar Meyer (born November 24, 1960) is an American bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. He has won five Grammy Awards and been nominated seven times.
Meyer is a member of the Telluride Bluegras ...
and
Jennifer Higdon,
partita
Partita (also ''partie'', ''partia'', ''parthia'', or ''parthie'') was originally the name for a single-instrumental piece of music (16th and 17th centuries), but Johann Kuhnau (Thomaskantor until 1722), his student Christoph Graupner, and Johann ...
s by
Antón García Abril
Antón García Abril OAXS (19 May 1933 – 17 March 2021) was a Spanish composer and musician. He composed many classical orchestral works, chamber and vocal pieces, as well as over 150 scores for film and television.
Biography
Between 1974 ...
, two serenades for violin and orchestra by
Einojuhani Rautavaara
Einojuhani Rautavaara (; 9 October 1928 – 27 July 2016) was a Finnish composer of classical music. Among the most notable Finnish composers since Jean Sibelius (1865–1957), Rautavaara wrote a great number of works spanning various styles. ...
, and a violin and piano
sonata by
Lera Auerbach
Lera Auerbach (russian: Лера Авербах, born Valeria Lvovna Averbakh, russian: Валерия Львовна Авербах; October 21, 1973) is a Soviet-born American classical composer and concert pianist. .
Early life and education
Hahn was born in
Lexington, Virginia, on November 27, 1979,
and grew up in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
, Maryland.
Her father, Steve Hahn, was a journalist and librarian; her paternal great-grandmother was from Bad Dürkheim
Bad Dürkheim () is a spa town in the Rhine-Neckar urban agglomeration, and is the seat of the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Geography
Location
Bad Dürkheim lies at the edge of Palatinate Forest on the German Win ...
in Germany. Her mother Anne was an accountant.
A musically precocious child, Hahn began playing the violin one month before her fourth birthday in the Suzuki Program of Baltimore's Peabody Institute
The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–1869) ...
. She participated in a Suzuki class for a year. From 1985 to 1990 she studied in Baltimore under Klara Berkovich.
In 1990, at age ten, she was admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she studied with Jascha Brodsky
Jascha Brodsky (June 6, 1907 – March 3, 1997) was a Russian-American violinist and teacher.
Born in Kharkiv, in the Kharkov Governorate of the Russian Empire (in present-day Ukraine), he began his violin studies with his violinist father at the ...
for seven years. She learned the études of Kreutzer, Ševčík, Gaviniès and Rode Rode may refer to:
People
*Ajmer Rode, Canadian writer
*Bernd Michael Rode (born 1946), Austrian chemistry professor
*Bernhard Rode (1725–1797), German painter
*Ebbe Rode (1910–1998), Danish stage and film actor
*Franc Rode (born 1934), Slove ...
, Paganini's Caprices, 28 violin concertos, and chamber works and assorted showpieces.
At 16 she completed the Curtis Institute's university requirements, but she remained for several years to pursue elective courses until her graduation in May 1999 with a Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consists of pre ...
degree.[ During this time she studied violin with ]Jaime Laredo
Jaime Laredo (born June 7, 1941) is a violinist and Conducting, conductor. He was the conductor and Music Director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, and he began his musical career when he was five years old.
Laredo was born in Cochabamba, Boliv ...
and studied chamber music with Felix Galimir
Felix Galimir (May 20, 1910, Vienna – November 10, 1999, New York) was an Austrian-born American violinist and music teacher.
Born in a Sephardic Jewish family Vienna; his first language was Ladino.
Allan Kozinn,"Felix Galimir, 89, a Viol ...
and Gary Graffman
Gary Graffman (born October 14, 1928) is an American classical pianist, teacher and administrator.
Early life
Graffman was born in New York City to Russian-Jewish parents. Having started piano at age 3, Graffman entered the Curtis Institute of M ...
.[
She also spent four summers in the total-immersion language programs in German, French and Japanese at Middlebury College.
]
Musical career
In 1991, at age 11, Hahn made her major orchestral debut with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore SO has its principal residence at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, where it performs more than 130 concerts a year. In 2005, it bega ...
. Soon thereafter she debuted with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Se ...
, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
The ''Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra'' (''PSO'') is an American orchestra based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The orchestra's home is Heinz Hall, located in Pittsburgh's Cultural District.
History
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is an America ...
and the New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...
.[ She made her international debut in 1994 performing the Bernstein ''Serenade'' in Hungary with ]Ivan Fischer
Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...
and the Budapest Festival Orchestra. Her German debut came in 1995 with a performance of the Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
Violin Concerto
A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...
with Lorin Maazel and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (german: Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, BRSO) is a German radio orchestra. Based in Munich, Germany, it is one of the city's four orchestras. The BRSO is one of two full-size symphony orchestr ...
. The concert was broadcast in Europe.
In 1996, she debuted at Carnegie Hall in New York City as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, playing Saint-Saens’s third violin concerto. In a 1999 interview with ''Strings Magazine'', she cited people influential to her development as a musician and a student, including David Zinman
David Zinman (born July 9, 1936, in Brooklyn, NY) is an American conductor and violinist.
Education
After violin studies at Oberlin Conservatory, Zinman studied theory and composition at the University of Minnesota, earning his M.A. in 1963. H ...
, the conductor of the Baltimore Symphony and Hahn's mentor since she was ten, and Lorin Maazel, with whose Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (german: Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, BRSO) is a German radio orchestra. Based in Munich, Germany, it is one of the city's four orchestras. The BRSO is one of two full-size symphony orchestr ...
she performed in Europe.
Hahn began recording in 1996. Her earlier television appearances include '' Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood'' in 2000 (episode 1755), where Mr. Rogers visits a local music store and she plays for him. She has released 16 albums on the Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
and Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...
labels, three DVDs, an Oscar-nominated movie soundtrack, an award-winning recording for children, and various compilations. Her recordings often blend newer and traditional pieces. Her albums include pairings of Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
with Bernstein
Bernstein is a common surname in the German language, meaning "amber" (literally "burn stone"). The name is used by both Germans and Jews, although it is most common among people of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage. The German pronunciation is , but in E ...
, Schoenberg with Sibelius
Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...
, Brahms
Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...
with Stravinsky, and Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...
with Jennifer Higdon.
Hahn has played with orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...
, New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...
, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra ( nl, Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, ) is a Dutch symphony orchestra, based at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw (concert hall). Considered one of the world's leading orchestras, Queen Beatrix conferred the " ...
, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Singapore Symphony Orchestra
The Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Singapore. Its principal concert venue is the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. The orchestra also gives concerts at the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, and performs abou ...
. In 2007 she debuted with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenu ...
and played in Vatican City as part of the celebrations for Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...
with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra and conductor Gustavo Dudamel
Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez (born 26 January 1981) is a Venezuelan conductor and violinist who is the music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Paris Opera.
Early life
Dudamel was ...
. The concert was recorded and released by Deutsche Grammophon.
She has also performed as a chamber musician. Since 1992 she has performed nearly every year with the Skaneateles Chamber Music Festival in Skaneateles, New York
Skaneateles ( , ) is a town in Onondaga County, New York, United States. The population was 7,112 at the 2020 census. The name is from the Iroquois term for the adjacent ''Skaneateles'' Lake, which means "long lake." The town is on the western ...
. From 1995 to 2000 she performed and studied chamber music at the Marlboro Music Festival
The Marlboro Music School and Festival is a retreat for advanced classical training and musicianship held for seven weeks each summer in Marlboro, Vermont, in the United States. Public performances are held each weekend while the school is in ses ...
in Vermont, and in 1996 she was an artist and a member of the chamber music mentoring program of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) is an American organization dedicated to the performance and promotion of chamber music in New York City. It is the largest organization of its kind in the country for chamber music. CMS's home is ...
.[ In 2004 she toured ]Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, Russia, with the Poulenc Trio.
Hahn has been interested in cross-genre collaboration and pushing musical boundaries. She began performing and touring in crossover
Crossover may refer to:
Entertainment
Albums and songs
* ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album)
* ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987
* ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album)
* ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album)
* ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...
duos with singer-songwriter Josh Ritter
Josh Ritter (born October 21, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and author who performs and records with the Royal City Band. Ritter is known for his distinctive Americana style and narrative lyrics. In 2006, he was named one of ...
in 2007 and with singer-songwriter Tom Brosseau
Thomas Anderson Brosseau is an American musical storyteller and guitarist, born and raised in Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States. He was awarded Key to the City of Grand Forks by mayor Michael R. Brown in 2007, in part due to his origina ...
in 2005. She has recorded songs with "…And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead". In 2012 she released an album with German pianist and composer Hauschka
Volker Bertelmann (born 1966) is a German pianist and composer who mainly performs and records under the name Hauschka. He is best known for his compositions for prepared piano.
Early life
Volker Bertelmann was born in Kreuztal, Germany. He ...
titled ''Silfra''. The songs on the disc were completely improvised. ''Silfra'' was produced by Valgeir Sigurðsson
Valgeir Sigurðsson (born 18 June 1971) is an Icelandic record producer, mixer, composer, audio engineer and musician.
Biography
Coming from a musical background, Valgeir's fascination with recording technology led to a job in a small recor ...
. According to her, "Other musicians cross genres all the time. For me it's not crossover—I just enter their world. It frees you up to think in a different way from what you've been trained to do."
In June 2014, Hahn was awarded the ' of the Dresden Music Festival The Dresden Music Festival (German: Dresdner Musikfestspiele) is an annual music festival which takes place in Dresden, Germany in May and June. Although classical music, including contemporary classical music, forms the core of its performances, w ...
.
Since 2016, she has piloted free concerts for parents with infants, a knitting circle, a community dance workshop, a yoga class, and art students. She plans to continue these community-oriented concerts, encouraging people to combine live performances with their interests outside the concert hall and providing opportunities for parents to hear music with their infants, who might be barred from traditional concerts.
In 2020, Hahn and AI roboticist and tech entrepreneur Carol E. Reiley
Carol Elizabeth Reiley (born 1982) is an American business executive, computer scientist, and model. She is a pioneer in teleoperated and autonomous robot systems in surgery, space exploration, disaster rescue, and self-driving cars. Reiley has w ...
cofounded DeepMusic.ai to work with artists and AI companies to amplify human creativity.
Commissioning
Hahn is a noted champion of new works. In 1999 she commissioned Edgar Meyer
Edgar Meyer (born November 24, 1960) is an American bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. He has won five Grammy Awards and been nominated seven times.
Meyer is a member of the Telluride Bluegras ...
to write a concerto. She later recorded the piece with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra
The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO) is a full-time professional chamber orchestra based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. In collaboration with five Artistic Partners, the orchestra's musicians present more than 130 concerts and educational programs ea ...
. In 2010 a concerto written for Hahn by Jennifer Higdon and recorded with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmon ...
was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music
The Pulitzer Prize for Music is one of seven Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually in Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first given in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year, and this was eventually converted i ...
.
She commissioned 26 contemporary composers to write short encore pieces for ''In 27 Pieces: the Hilary Hahn Encores''. Among the composers are David Del Tredici
David Walter Del Tredici (born March 16, 1937) is an American composer. He has won a Pulitzer Prize for Music and is a former Guggenheim and Woodrow Wilson fellow. Del Tredici is considered a pioneer of the Neo-Romantic movement. He has also be ...
, Jennifer Higdon, Du Yun
Du Yun (traditional Chinese: 杜韻, simplified Chinese: 杜韵) is a Chinese-born American composer, performer, vocalist and performance artist. She won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her opera ''Angel's Bone'', with libretto by Royce ...
, Elliott Sharp
Elliott Sharp (born March 1, 1951) is an American contemporary classical composer, multi-instrumentalist, and performer.
A central figure in the avant-garde and experimental music scene in New York City since the late 1970s, Sharp has released ...
, David Lang, Nico Muhly
Nico Asher Muhly (; born August 26, 1981) is an American contemporary classical music composer and arranger who has worked and recorded with both classical and pop musicians. A prolific composer, he has composed for many notable symphony orchestras ...
, James Newton Howard, Valentyn Silvestrov
Valentyn Vasylyovych Sylvestrov ( uk, Валенти́н Васи́льович Сильве́стров; born 30 September 1937) is a Ukrainian composer and pianist, who plays and writes contemporary classical music.
Biography
Valentyn Vasylyo ...
, and Max Richter. For the 27th encore she held an open contest that drew more than 400 entries and was won by Jeff Myers. The international premiere tours, from 2011 to 2013, met with wide critical and audience acclaim. In November 2013 these 27 short pieces were released on Deutsche Grammophon. The recording won the Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Small Ensemble Performance (from 2013: Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance) has been awarded since 1997. In its early years, its title included the addition "(with or without a conductor)".
In 1991 the Grammy f ...
.
After playing Einojuhani Rautavaara's violin concerto, Hahn commissioned another concerto from Rautavaara, but due to his weak condition the project was thought to be forgotten. But after his death, it was revealed to conductor Mikko Franck
Mikko Franck is a Finnish conductor and violinist.
Biography
Franck was born in Helsinki. He began learning the violin at the age of 5 and started violin studies at the Sibelius Academy in 1992. The Academy let Franck conduct an orchestra in 19 ...
, a friend of Rautavaara's, that Rautavaara had written two serenades for violin and orchestra. The serenades were premiered on Hahn's album ''Paris''.
In 2016 and 2017, in recital tours across the U.S., Europe, and Japan, she premiered six new partitas for solo violin by Antón García Abril
Antón García Abril OAXS (19 May 1933 – 17 March 2021) was a Spanish composer and musician. He composed many classical orchestral works, chamber and vocal pieces, as well as over 150 scores for film and television.
Biography
Between 1974 ...
, her first commissioning project for solo violin, as well as her first commission of a set of works from a single composer. She forged a relationship with García Abril during ''In 27 Pieces: the Hilary Hahn Encores''. Digital and physical editions of the complete sheet music for these 27 encores have been released by Boosey & Hawkes. In 2019 Hahn and Lera Auerbach
Lera Auerbach (russian: Лера Авербах, born Valeria Lvovna Averbakh, russian: Валерия Львовна Авербах; October 21, 1973) is a Soviet-born American classical composer and concert pianist. premiered Auerbach's sonata for violin and piano ''Fractured Dreams''.
Film music
Hahn began her film recording career as the soloist for James Newton Howard's score for M. Night Shyamalan's '' The Village'' in 2004. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score. Her recording of Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto was used extensively in '' The Deep Blue Sea'', starring Rachel Weisz
Rachel Hannah Weisz (; born 7 March 1970 ) is an English actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, and a BAFTA Award.
Weisz began acting in British stage and television in the ...
and Tom Hiddleston
Thomas William Hiddleston (born 9 February 1981) is an English actor. He gained international fame portraying Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), starting with ''Thor'' in 2011 and most recently in the Disney+ series ''Loki'' in 2021 ...
. The film uses the piece's second movement to accompany a nine-minute sequence. In 2013 she was the soloist on Andrew Hewitt
Andrew Hewitt (born March 28th, 1976) is an English composer based in Los Angeles.
Training
Hewitt was classically trained from childhood as a pianist and tenor singer. He won music scholarships to the Westminster Abbey Choir, Uppingham School, ...
's score for the film '' The Sea''.
On playing Bach
In 1999 Hahn said that she played Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...
more than any other composer and had played solo Bach pieces every day since she was eight.[
In a segment on ]NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
titled "Musicians in Their Own Words", she spoke about the surreal experience of playing the Bach ''Chaconne'' (from the Partita for Violin No. 2) alone on the concert stage. In the same segment she discussed her experiences emulating a lark while playing '' The Lark Ascending'' by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Instrument
Her violin is an 1864 copy of Paganini's '' Cannone'' made by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume
Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (7 October 1798 – 19 March 1875) was a French luthier, businessman, inventor and winner of many awards. His workshop made over 3,000 instruments.
Early life
Vuillaume was born in Mirecourt, where his father and g ...
. In an interview on Danish television, Hahn said she almost never leaves her instrument out of sight. She uses bows by American bow maker Isaac Salchow and French bow makers Émile Ouchard, Paul Jombar, and Emil Miquel. For her strings, she uses Thomastik-Infeld
Thomastik-Infeld is an Austrian company based in Vienna that develops and produces strings and rosins for bowed and fretted string instruments, including the violin, viola, cello, contrabass, and guitar.
The company still makes "Dominant" str ...
Dominants for the A (aluminum wound), D and G (silver wound) and a Pirastro Gold Label Steel E.
She has also acquired a second Vuillaume, an 1865 model loosely based on the 1715 Alard Stradivarius, and has used both in recent years for recording and performing.
Journal
Hahn's website includes a section titled "By Hilary." In a ''Strings Magazine'' interview, she said that the idea for her "Postcards from the Road" feature originated during an outreach visit to a third-grade class in upstate New York. The class was doing a geography project in which the students asked everyone they knew who was traveling to send postcards from the cities they were visiting to learn more about the world. She decided to participate after receiving a positive reaction to her suggestion that she take part.[ She enjoyed her first year's experience with the project so much that she decided to continue it on her new website. A few years later she expanded the postcards to a journal format. Journal entries usually include photographs from her tours and rehearsals.
]
Personal life
Since 2016, Hahn and her husband have lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...
after having lived in New York City for several years. They have two daughters.[
On September 1, 2019, she announced that she was taking a year-long sabbatical and would resume performing in the 2020–21 season.
]
Discography
* ''Hilary Hahn Plays Bach'' (1997) with Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006, Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004 and Sonata No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005
* ''Beethoven Violin Concerto
The Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61, was written by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1806. Its first performance by Franz Clement was unsuccessful and for some decades the work languished in obscurity, until revived in 1844 by the then 12-year-old vi ...
/ Bernstein Serenade'' (1999). Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore SO has its principal residence at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, where it performs more than 130 concerts a year. In 2005, it bega ...
; David Zinman
David Zinman (born July 9, 1936, in Brooklyn, NY) is an American conductor and violinist.
Education
After violin studies at Oberlin Conservatory, Zinman studied theory and composition at the University of Minnesota, earning his M.A. in 1963. H ...
, conductor
*: Grammy Nominee – Best Instrumental Soloist Performance with Orchestra
* ''Barber
A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave men's and boys' hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a "barbershop" or a "barber's". Barbershops are also places of social interaction and publi ...
& Meyer Meyer may refer to:
People
*Meyer (surname), listing people so named
* Meyer (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name
Companies
* Meyer Burger, a Swiss mechanical engineering company
* Meyer Corporation
* Meyer Sound Labo ...
Violin Concertos'' (2000). Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO) is a full-time professional chamber orchestra based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. In collaboration with five Artistic Partners, the orchestra's musicians present more than 130 concerts and educational programs ea ...
; Hugh Wolff
Hugh MacPherson Wolff (born October 21, 1953, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France) is an American conductor.
Biography
Born in France while his father was serving in the U.S. Foreign Service, Wolff spent his primary-school years in London. He received his ...
, conductor
* ''Brahms
Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...
& Stravinsky Violin Concertos'' (2001). Academy of St Martin in the Fields
The Academy of St Martin in the Fields (ASMF) is an English chamber orchestra, based in London.
John Churchill, then Master of Music at the London church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, and Neville Marriner founded the orchestra as "The Academy o ...
; Neville Marriner
Sir Neville Marriner, (15 April 1924 – 2 October 2016) was an English violinist and "one of the world's greatest conductors". Gramophone lists Marriner as one of the 50 greatest conductors and another compilation ranks Marriner #14 of the ...
, conductor
*:
* ''Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sym ...
& Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throughout his life as a major compo ...
Concertos'' (2002). Oslo Philharmonic
The Oslo Philharmonic (Oslo-Filharmonien) is a Norwegian symphony orchestra based in Oslo, Norway. The orchestra traces its roots to the Philharmonic Society founded in 1847 and the Christiania Musical Association co-founded by Edvard Grieg in 18 ...
; Marek Janowski
Marek Janowski (born 18 February 1939 in Warsaw) is a Polish-born German conductor. He is currently chief conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic.
Childhood
Janowski grew up in Wuppertal, near Cologne, after his mother traveled there at the st ...
and Hugh Wolff
Hugh MacPherson Wolff (born October 21, 1953, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France) is an American conductor.
Biography
Born in France while his father was serving in the U.S. Foreign Service, Wolff spent his primary-school years in London. He received his ...
, conductors
* ''Bach Concertos'' (2003). Hilary Hahn, violin; Margaret Batjer, violin; Allan Vogel, oboe. Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) is an American chamber orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. LACO presents its Orchestral Series concerts at two venues, the Alex Theatre in Glendale and UCLA's Royce Hall.
History
James Arkatov, a ...
; Jeffrey Kahane, conductor
* '' The Village Motion Picture Soundtrack'' (2004); Hilary Hahn, featured violinist; music composed by James Newton Howard
* ''Elgar: Violin Concerto
A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...
; Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending'' (2004). London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...
; Colin Davis, conductor
* ''Mozart: Violin Sonatas K. 301, K. 304, K. 376 & K. 526'' (2005). Natalie Zhu, piano accompanist
*"To Russia My Homeland" from the album '' Worlds Apart'' by ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead (2005)
* ''Paganini: Violin Concerto No. 1 / Spohr
Louis Spohr (, 5 April 178422 October 1859), baptized Ludewig Spohr, later often in the modern German form of the name Ludwig, was a German composer, violinist and conducting, conductor. Highly regarded during his lifetime, Spohr composed ten Sy ...
: Violin Concerto No. 8 – Gesangsszene'' (2006). Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra ( sv, Sveriges Radios Symfoniorkester) is a Swedish radio orchestra based in Stockholm, affiliated with Sveriges Radio (Sweden's Radio). Its principal performing venue is the Berwaldhallen (Berwald Hall). The ...
; Eiji Oue
is a Japanese conductor.
Biography
Oue began his conducting studies with Hideo Saito of the Toho Gakuen School of Music. In 1978, Seiji Ozawa invited him to spend the summer studying at the Tanglewood Music Center. There he met Leonard Bern ...
, conductor
*"Witch's Web" from the album '' So Divided'' by ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead (2006)
*''Der Kleine Hörsaal – Die Geige mit Hilary Hahn'' (2007); Hilary Hahn, narrator
*"Fork in the Road" and "Blue Part of the Windshield" from the album ''Grand Forks
Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city o ...
'' by Tom Brosseau
Thomas Anderson Brosseau is an American musical storyteller and guitarist, born and raised in Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States. He was awarded Key to the City of Grand Forks by mayor Michael R. Brown in 2007, in part due to his origina ...
(2007)
* ''Schoenberg: Violin Concerto
A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...
; Sibelius: Violin Concerto
A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...
'' (2008). Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra ( sv, Sveriges Radios Symfoniorkester) is a Swedish radio orchestra based in Stockholm, affiliated with Sveriges Radio (Sweden's Radio). Its principal performing venue is the Berwaldhallen (Berwald Hall). The ...
; Esa-Pekka Salonen
Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish orchestral conductor and composer. He is principal conductor and artistic advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and music di ...
, conductor
*: Debuted at No. 1 on Classical Billboard chart for three weeks (the first Schoenberg recording to debut at #1).
*:
*: Grammy Nominee – Best Classical Album
*: Ranked No. 6 by ''Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...
'' on its list of the ten best albums of the decade.
*"Bach: Violin & Voice" (2010). Hilary Hahn, violin; Christine Schäfer
Christine Schäfer (born 3 March 1965) is a German operatic soprano.
Biography
Schäfer was born in Frankfurt. She studied from 1984 until 1991 at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin, where her teachers were Ingrid Figur, Aribert Reimann and ...
, soprano; Matthias Goerne
Matthias Goerne (born 31 March 1967) is a German baritone. He has performed and recorded extensively, both on the opera stage and in Lieder settings. Goerne has been referred to as "Today's leading interpreter of German art songs" by the Chicago ...
, baritone; Munich Chamber Orchestra
The Munich Chamber Orchestra (german: Münchener Kammerorchester, links=no, italic=no, or MKO) is a German chamber orchestra based in Munich. Its primary concert venue is the Prinzregententheater, Munich. The MKO also gives concerts in Munich at s ...
* '' Higdon & Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...
Violin Concertos'' (2010). Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmon ...
; Vasily Petrenko
Vasily Eduardovich Petrenko (russian: Васи́лий Эдуа́рдович Петре́нко; born 7 July 1976) is a Russian-British conductor. He is currently chief conductor of the European Union Youth Orchestra, music director of the Ro ...
, conductor
* '' Charles Ives: Four Sonatas'' (2011). Valentina Lisitsa
Valentina Lisitsa, ; russian: Валентина Евгеньевна Лисица, translit=Valentina Evgen'evna Lisica, ) (born 25 March 1970) is a Ukrainian-American pianist.
Lisitsa independently launched her career on social media, without ...
, piano accompanist
*: Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik
The Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik ("German Record Critics' Award") was established in Germany in 1963 by publisher Richard Kaselowsky with the aim of setting the "most rigorous standards for supreme achievement and quality" in the field ...
* ''Silfra'' (2012). Hauschka
Volker Bertelmann (born 1966) is a German pianist and composer who mainly performs and records under the name Hauschka. He is best known for his compositions for prepared piano.
Early life
Volker Bertelmann was born in Kreuztal, Germany. He ...
(aka Volker Bertelmann), prepared piano
* ''In 27 Pieces: The Hilary Hahn Encores'' (2013). Cory Smythe, piano accompanist
*: Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Small Ensemble Performance (from 2013: Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance) has been awarded since 1997. In its early years, its title included the addition "(with or without a conductor)".
In 1991 the Grammy f ...
* ''Mozart 5, Vieuxtemps 4 – Violin Concertos'' (2015). Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen
The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (''unofficial English translation'': Bremen German Chamber Philharmonic) is a chamber orchestra based in Bremen (Germany), with place of residence in the historical building Stadtwaage.
History
A group of ...
; Paavo Järvi
Paavo Järvi (; born 30 December 1962) is an Estonian-American conductor.
Early life
Järvi was born in Tallinn, Estonia, to Liilia Järvi and the Estonian conductor Neeme Järvi. His siblings, Kristjan Järvi and Maarika Järvi, are also mu ...
, conductor
* ''Hilary Hahn Plays Bach: Sonatas 1 & 2, Partita 1'' (2018) with Sonata for Violin Solo No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001, Partita for Violin Solo No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002, and Sonata for Violin Solo No. 2 in A minor, BWV 1003.
* ''6 Partitas by Antón García Abril'' (2019) Partitas for solo violin written for Hilary Hahn
* ''Paris'' (2021) with Chausson's '' Poème'', Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1, & Rautavaara’s two serenades for violin and orchestra. Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France
The Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France is a French radio orchestra, affiliated with Radio France. The orchestra performs principally at the auditorium of the Maison de la Radio in Paris, along with several concerts at the Philharmonie de Pa ...
; Mikko Franck
Mikko Franck is a Finnish conductor and violinist.
Biography
Franck was born in Helsinki. He began learning the violin at the age of 5 and started violin studies at the Sibelius Academy in 1992. The Academy let Franck conduct an orchestra in 19 ...
, conductor.
* ''Eclipse'' (2022) with Dvořák's Violin Concerto, Ginastera
Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (; April 11, 1916June 25, 1983) was an Argentinian composer of classical music. He is considered to be one of the most important 20th-century classical composers of the Americas.
Biography
Ginastera was born in Buen ...
's Violin Concerto & Sarasate
Pablo Martín Melitón de Sarasate y Navascués (; 10 March 1844 – 20 September 1908), commonly known as Pablo de Sarasate, was a Spanish (Navarrese) violin virtuoso, composer and conductor of the Romantic period. His best known works inclu ...
's '' Carmen Fantasy''. Frankfurt Radio Symphony
The Frankfurt Radio Symphony (german: hr-Sinfonieorchester) is the radio orchestra of Hessischer Rundfunk, the public broadcasting network of the German state of Hesse. From 1929 to 1950 it was named ''Frankfurter Rundfunk-Symphonie-Orchester''. F ...
; Andrés Orozco-Estrada
Andrés Orozco-Estrada (born 14 December 1977) is a Colombian violinist and conductor, with dual nationality in Colombia and Austria.
Early life
Born in Medellín, Orozco-Estrada studied music at the Instituto Musical Diego Echavarría and lea ...
, conductor.
References
External links
*
*
Classical Archives interview
BACH & friends documentary
Hilary Hahn's Twitter page
Hilary Hahn's Instagram page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hahn, Hilary
1979 births
Living people
21st-century American women musicians
21st-century classical violinists
American classical violinists
American people of German descent
Child classical musicians
Curtis Institute of Music alumni
Decca Records artists
Deutsche Grammophon artists
Grammy Award winners
Herbert von Karajan Prize winners
Musicians from Baltimore
Musicians from Virginia
Peabody Institute alumni
People from Lexington, Virginia
Sony Classical Records artists
Women classical violinists
21st-century American violinists