Hilary Hahn

Timeline

1979 Born in Virginia, USA.

1984-89 Studies in Baltimore, under Klara Berkovich

1990 Gains a place at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music, aged just ten, becoming a student of Jascha Brodsky.

1991 Performs in her orchestral debut with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

1995 Makes her German debut as a 15 year old, performing the Beethoven Violin Concerto with Lorin Maazel and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. The concert is broadcast on radio and television throughout Europe.

1996 After signing her first exclusive recording contract with Sony Classical, Hahn makes her Carnegie Hall debut alongside the Philadelphia Orchestra.

1997 Wins Diapason d’Or of the Year with her first album, featuring the Solo Sonatas and Partitas of JS Bach, which spends several weeks as a bestseller on the Billboard classical charts.

1999 The Beethoven Concerto and Bernstein Serenade form her second recording, which brings a first Grammy nomination, as well as her second Diapason d'Or, the Echo Klassik award of the year, and is named Gramophone CD of the Month. Graduates with a Bachelor of Music degree aged 19.

2001 Named ‘America’s Best’ young classical musician by Time magazine. Her recording of the Brahms and Stravinsky Violin Concertos wins the Grammy Award for ‘Best Instrumental Soloist Performance with Orchestra’ in addition to a Gramophone’s Editor's Choice.

2007 Collaborates in several albums with non-classical musicians including the Oscar-nominated soundtrack to M. Night Shyamalan's film The Village. Releases a coupling of the Schoenberg and Sibelius Violin Concertos (DG) with the Finnish RSO conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen which makes it to the final six in the Concerto category of the Classic FM Gramophone Awards.

2008 Is named Classic FM Gramophone Artist of the Year following an international vote involving magazines and radio stations from all over the world.

2009 Gives world premiere of Jennifer Higdon's Violin Concerto

Artist of the Year 2008

As we launch this year’s poll for the Classic FM Gramophone Artist of the Year, we look back at last year’s winner, the remarkably talented young violinist Hilary Hahn.

Hilary Hahn is a formidable musician. She astonishes audiences in performance after performance and recording after recording with her superb technical prowess, refined good taste and intuitive musical understanding. As last year’s magnificent recording – of Schoenberg and Sibelius concertos with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen – shows, she is able instinctively to combine a highly assured virtuoso ability with a deeply thoughtful engagement with the score. “When the last chord sounds its full stop, the sense of satisfied finality is exhilarating,” reviewer Rob Cowan said. “No violinist currently performing makes a lovelier sound.” This year Hahn gave the world premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s Violin Concerto, co-commissioned by the Indianapolis, Toronto and Baltimore symphonies and the Curtis Institute of Music.

Not content with performing the major masterpieces around the world, Hahn recently tried her hand at improvisation. The star soloist said that while she found her knees shaking, the experience made her “think differently about classical music”. But that’s also an apt description of what this technically awe-inspiring, wonderfully imaginative violinist has been doing now for a number of years.

Selected features

Hilary Hahn talks to Adam Sweeting about her career and her new coupling of works by Samuel Barber and Edgar Meyer May 2000

Hilary Hahn talks to Michael Quinn about her coupling of the Beethoven Violin Concerto and Bernstein's Serenade March 1999

Essential discography

Schoenberg. Sibelius Violin Concertos DG

Hilary Hahn vn Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra / Esa-Pekka Salonen

> Hilary Hahn plays Schoenberg and Sibelius
Paganini. Spohr - Violin Concertos DG

Hilary Hahn vn Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra / Eiji Oue

> Hilary Hahn plays Paganini and Spohr
Beethoven - Violin Concerto Sony Classical

Hilary Hahn vn Baltimore Symphony Orchestra / David Zinman

> Hilary Hahn plays Beethoven

Search for more articles about Hilary Hahn in the Gramophone archive


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