* En anglais uniquement
Among the world's leading violinists,
Hilary Hahn emerged in the late 1990s as a prodigy, and in the following decades she received critical praise for her recordings of standard concerto repertoire from
Bach to
Barber, as well as contemporary works by
Edgar Meyer and
Jennifer Higdon.
Hahn began playing the violin before her fourth birthday and soon began studies via the Suzuki method. She took lessons from Russian violinist Klara Berkovich from 1984 to 1989, and from 1990, she studied violin at the Curtis Institute under Jascha Brodsky.
In 1991,
Hahn debuted with the
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and by the mid-90s she had appeared with the
Philadelphia Orchestra, the
Cleveland Orchestra, the
New York Philharmonic, and the
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. In addition, she had debuted in Europe in 1995 with
Lorin Maazel and the
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, playing
Beethoven's Violin Concerto.
Even though she could have graduated at 16,
Hahn stayed on at Curtis for additional courses and graduated at 19 in 1999. By then she had made two recordings under her contract for Sony,
Hilary Hahn Plays Bach, and an album pairing
Beethoven's Violin Concerto and
Bernstein's Serenade, both critical and commercial successes.
In 2003,
Hahn signed a recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon, and her first album,
Bach: Concertos, again was devoted to her favorite composer. She was the violin soloist in
James Newton Howard's score for M. Night Shyamalan's 2004 film
The Village. In 2005.
Hahn branched out into crossover music in a series of concerts with American singer and songwriter
Tom Brosseau. Two years later, she appeared in concert in crossover fare once again, this time with
Josh Ritter, another popular American artist.
Hahn also collaborated with the indie rock group,
...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead. In 2009, she commissioned a concerto from
Jennifer Higdon, which earned the composer a Pulitzer Prize in 2010, and the work was released that year on Deutsche Grammophon. In 2012,
Hahn released
Silfra, an entirely improvised recording with German pianist and composer
Hauschka, also known as
Volker Bertelmann.
Hahn then began her project,
In 27 Pieces: The Hilary Hahn Encores, commissioning pieces from a variety of composers to use on tours through the 2012-2013 season.
In 2015, Hilary Hahn: The Complete Sony Recordings was released, and Deutsche Grammophon issued a retrospective collection of her recordings in 2018, while that year also saw the release of
Hilary Hahn plays Bach: Sonatas 1 & 2, Partita 1 on Decca, revisiting touchstones of her career.
Apart from recording,
Hahn has introduced a series of free, community-oriented concerts aimed at families with infants who would otherwise be unable to attend.