Hilary Hahn

I wanted to search for someone who is famous in a way others might think, “huh, I never thought of that as famous.” The more I read, the more I got inspired. My goal was to find someone that I want to become later in the future. Hilary Hahn’s story is just what I needed.

A lot of Hilary Hahn’s travel attracts me to her. The fact that she won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist with Orchestra in 2008 makes me even more inspired. She has traveled so many places to play in so many concerts around the world. She has played in over 1,000 concerts in over 240 cities. In my opinion, Hilary is on the go, non-stop. All her life, she has played and studied music with many different coaches.

Hilary Hahn is a concert violinist. She travels to many different countries along with being a member of many different philharmonic groups from America. She also does her own solos from time to time. She went to the Curtis Institute of Music and received a bachelor’s degree at age 19. She studied many different types of literature (Shakespeare, 18th-century British Literature, Literature of War, Literature in Correspondence), along with Poetry Workshop, Fiction Workshop, Acting Workshop, History of Western Civilization, German, Germany After Reunification (in German), Modern German Literature (in German), French, Sociology of France (in French), Modern French Song (in French), and Solfege, all at the university level. Musically wise, she studied Music Theory, Music History, Counterpoint, Elements of Conducting (theoretical), Chamber Music, Orchestra, Violin, Keyboard Harmony, and Piano. Every concert she is in, she gets paid. Not on the hour, but for each concert she is in. The more popular the group, the more she gets paid. If she plays a solo, she gets paid more.

Hahn with her violin (hilaryhahn.com)

Hilary started training at age four with the Suzuki Method until age five. Klara Berkovich in Baltimore studied with Hilary from when she was five to ten. After that, studied with Jascha Brodsky at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia from ages 10 to 17 and coached with Jaime Laredo, Gary Graffman, and Felix Galimir until age 19. Hilary was home schooled from ages 9 to 12 in all subjects and still home schooled from 12 to 15 in only high school math. She joined the Curtis Institute of Music from ages 10 to 19, took extra classes just for fun from ages 16 to 19. She finally received her Bachelor’s Degree from Curtis at age 19. She also took summer courses in Ohio. I can only imagine how busy she must have been, but I bet she loved all of it. Hilary kept up with the violin, and the result is that she is now an award winning musician, and almost 30 years old.

I think Hilary inspires many other kids involved in music, particularly strings. When people watch her play, she seems so focused at every little thing that happens to her individually and on stage. She also inspires older musicians, too. They notice her style that she brings on the table and seem to like what the younger adults have in store for the future. All these things that people notice make her more interesting to the public. So while many people think helping society is saving lives and volunteering to raise money, another way to help others is by inspiring them to reach their goals.

I have many goals for my future. In high school, I wish to have higher than a 3.5 every semester. I like to challenge myself in everything I set my mind on. I also wish to be very successful in my musical display. Getting in Advanced Orchestra every year and reaching a higher chair each year will also be one of my high school goals. If I am able to take classes at a Community College, that would be amazing because I would already get college credit. Of course my biggest goal is to graduate. I would like to study music theory, possibly in my junior and senior year, in IB music.

Even though I have many goals for high school, I also have some goals for college. After I graduate high school, I want to attend a UC school, such as UCSB or UCI. That even to me sounds like a crazy step in my life. I have a backup plan though: attend a Community College for two years, then transfer to a UC school my next four years. I would like to study more music theory, along with music history. I think that would really boost my music playing by a whole lot.

Now for lifetime goals. There are so many choices for this category. What I really aspire to do is to be able to play for a national orchestra. I would love to travel, but I want a family, too. To also play in Carnegie Hall would be one of my huge lifetime goals.

I think I tend to get very inspired by Hilary Hahn in a very positive way.