Hilary Hahn

Hilary Hahn (born November 27, 1979, Lexington, Virginia, U.S.) is an American violinist who is regarded as one of the finest solo violinists of her generation. She sought to make classical music more accessible to a younger audience.

Hahn began taking Suzuki-method violin lessons at the Peabody Conservatory, in Baltimore, Maryland, shortly before her fourth birthday. Within one year she was studying with a private teacher, and by the age of 10 she had been admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, where she eventually earned (1999) a bachelor’s degree. At 11 years of age Hahn performed as a soloist with what is now the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and in 1991 she made her first major orchestral appearance, with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Hahn gained international acclaim when she debuted (1995) in Germany with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra; the performance was broadcast on TV and radio throughout Europe. At the age of 16 she became one of the youngest musicians to land an exclusive recording contract with Sony Classical Records, which signed her to a six-year agreement (1996–2002) for five recordings. After her contract expired, Hahn signed (2003) with the Deutsche Grammophon label.

Hahn performed as a soloist with the world’s most-elite orchestras in more than 200 major cities across the globe. By the age of 28 she had won several awards, including two Grammy Awards (2002 and 2008). In addition to giving live performances, she recorded numerous albums, provided music for films, including The Village (2004), and ventured into nonclassical works by collaborating with such alternative rock groups as …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead.

With her convivial down-to-earth approach and unpretentious nature, Hahn sought to attract a wide range of new fans to the classical music genre. She engaged a younger audience by sharing on her website personal journal entries and photos from her tours. She also produced her own YouTube channel and posted on Twitter and Instagram comments ostensibly from the viewpoint of her violin case on what it was like to be her traveling companion. In 2015 she won her third Grammy Award, for best chamber music or small-ensemble performance for her album In 27 Pieces: The Hilary Hahn Encores (2013). As a champion of contemporary classical music and composers, Hahn had featured 27 works for violin and piano recently composed by 27 artists. The inspiration for the project came from her awareness that musicians often overlooked contemporary short pieces to play as encores. She wanted to promote such works and to persuade violinists to add them to their repertoires.

Hahn continued to commission pieces from contemporary composers through the decade. In 2016 and 2017 she premiered Six Partitas for Solo Violin by Spanish composer Antón García Abril, whose work also appeared on In 27 Pieces. She recorded the compositions in 2019. That same year, Hahn premiered two new works written for her: Two Serenades for Violin and Orchestra by Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara, completed posthumously by compatriot composer Kalevi Aho, and Sonata No. 4: Fractured Dreams by Russian conductor, pianist, and composer Lera Auerbach. (Hahn recorded the Rautavaara serenades for her 2021 album Paris.) During this period Hahn also released Hilary Hahn Plays Bach: Sonatas 1 & 2, Partita 1 (2018), completing the cycle of Johann Sebastian Bach’s solo works, which she began recording with her first album (Hilary Hahn Plays Bach) in 1997. In 2021 Hahn was appointed as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s first artist-in-residence.