Hilary Hahn: Violin Artist

I came across Hilary Hahn when I was browsing for videos on YouTube. I downloaded several of her videos & I was entranced. She looks awfully young for her age (she's 29) but her talent & prowess with the violin is immense & breathtaking. Taken from her official site here:

Hilary Hahn was born in Lexington, Virginia. At the age of three she moved to Baltimore, where she began playing the violin one month before her fourth birthday in a local children's program. From age five to ten, she studied in Baltimore with Klara Berkovich, a native of Odessa who taught for 25 years at the Leningrad School for the Musically Gifted. From ten to seventeen she studied at Curtis with the legendary Jascha Brodsky - the last surviving student of the great Belgian violinist Eugene Ysaÿe - working closely with him until his death at the age of 89. Though she completed the Curtis Institute's university requirements at age 16, Ms. Hahn deferred graduation and remained at the school for several more years, taking additional elective courses in languages and literature, coaching regularly with Jaime Laredo, and studying chamber music with Felix Galimir and Gary Graffman. In May of 1999, at the age of 19, Ms. Hahn graduated from Curtis with a bachelor of music degree.

She records exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon. She has released more than 10 albums. She is also the featured soloist in M.Night Shyamalan's "The Village" OST album. Highlights of Ms. Hahn's 2006-2007 season include recital tours in the United States and Europe, and apperances with many major orchestras around the world including the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke's (at Carnegie Hall), Houston Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Tonhalle Orchester, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and KBS Symphony Orchestra of Korea. During a busy 2005-2006 season, she played recitals in cities including New York (Carnegie Hall), Salt Lake City, Boulder, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Warsaw, Brussels, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Vienna, Seoul, and Tokyo; and appeared with numerous orchestras including the Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony and Philadelphia Orchestra.

Ms. Hahn plays a copy of Paganini's "Cannon" Guarneri, made in 1864 by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume. Her strings are medium-gauge Thomastik Dominants (silver G and D; aluminum A) and a Pirastro Wondertone Gold E. She uses bows by French bow makers Paul Jombar and Emil Miquel and Liebenzeller Kolophonium Gold ll rosin.


Watching her play, there's that allure of innocence & determination to bring out the best emotions of the music. Her fingers are daft & quick, her concentration intense. A truly inspiring violinist, she's definitely one of the best ambassadors of violin & classical music today :)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When is the Right Age to Marry?

Image
I went out with Grandma today & she made a light threat that I marry before her time is up. *knocks wood* *true story* That made me think: assuming she's still around for the next 10 yrs, I've less than that to find someone to spend the rest of my life with. In Malaysia, the minimum age of marriage is 18 with parental consent, 21 without parental consent. Having been in 2 serious relationships & both lasting for 4 months, I'd say I've little to no experience in having a deep relationship with another person. I'm 23 now, I remember being 18 & bragging that I'll have at least 10 boyfriends before I wed at 30.  Pfft. How reality has changed that estimation for me; at best, I can hope to meet Mr. Right within the next 5 yrs & start preparing for life as Mrs. Right. It won't be easy finding Mr. Right especially when Mom has a list of requirements for me to follow; I swear my ears ring everytime she tells me that "your husband
Read more

Fancy a Massage in Bangsar?

Image
I'm a fan of massages, I like people rubbing the aches away. Good thing massage centres are common in Malaysia and I've surveyed a few places in Bangsar so here's the rundown: 1) Chow Yang Reflexology This is probably the most popular massage centre in Bangsar. Their staff are local or from either Myanmar or Thailand. You need a high pain threshold to enjoy their foot massage; you might find it enjoyable if you prefer the strong kind of massage. I only tried their food and shoulder; unfortunately my neck ached more the next day and I never tried it again.  2) Everhealth This is a popular massage chain and the staff are China nationals, so communication is difficult. However the staff are polite, plus they have a variety of rooms (private and sharing). I got a young female masseuse during my 1st experience; she wasn't very strong and didn't get all the aches out. The 2nd time I tried the traditional body massage and the masseuse was STRONG! Check out their
Read more

Here We Go Again...

Image
Frankly I can't be the only one annoyed with all this talk about using English vs mother tongue for Science & Maths, right? I did an article about that previously.  All this talk is starting to piss me off. Why? Apparently many Malaysians are freaking ignorant & plain DUMB. I sent a letter to the Star explaining my stand on this issue, so I'll put it here (I don't know if it'll be published but frankly, enough is enough): "Hi I'm writing in response to the letter by CONCERNED CITIZEN on 18 June in the Star "What about English in Accountancy". My sister studied in form 6 arts stream, now she's studying accounting at a private university; although her major subjects were taught in Malay at form 6, she had no problem switching to English at the university level. This brings me to my point that the root of the problem is many young Malaysians these days aren't speaking enough English, hence the worry that they can't cope with the chan
Read more