Hahn-Bin
Encyclopedia
Hahn-Bin is a Korean-American violinist. He made his international debut at age twelve at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards and made his Carnegie Hall
debut in 2009 following a decade of study with Itzhak Perlman
at the Perlman Music Program
and the Juilliard School
.
, Korea
, Hahn-Bin began his violin studies at age five and won a top prize at the Korea Times Competition the same year. He made his first national television appearance at age eight in a documentary profiling Korean prodigies on the KBS network, showcasing his talent in violin performance and composing music, poetry, and plays. At age nine, Hahn-Bin was the youngest student accepted to the Korean National University of Arts. By age ten, Hahn-Bin had made his orchestral debut with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra
and performed solo recitals in several major concert halls throughout Korea.
to study with Robert Lipsett
at the Colburn School
and under his tutelage performed the Édouard Lalo
Symphonie Espagnole
at the 42nd Grammy Awards. A series of engagements with U.S. orchestras soon followed, including the Pacific Symphony under music director Carl St.Clair
and the San Diego Symphony
conducted by Murry Sidlin. Hahn-Bin became the recipient of a $3.5 million dollar Giuseppe Guarneri
del Gesu from the Stradivari Society
of Chicago in 2000. Hahn-Bin's first European tour came in 2004, performing the Sibelius violin concerto
with Landesjugendorchester Rheinland-Pfalz led by Klaus Arp, and at age sixteen recorded works by Arvo Pärt
, Francis Poulenc
, and Leoš Janáček
for his debut album HAZE
, released by Universal Music Korea to critical acclaim in 2005.
to become one of his students at the Perlman Music Program
in 2001. In 2004, with Perlman's invitation to join his studio at the Juilliard School
, Hahn-Bin moved to New York City to further his musical studies. In an interview with Los Angeles Times
in 2011, Hahn-Bin said of his longtime mentor:
in 2006, and earned his Diploma from the Juilliard School
in 2009.
In 2008-2009 concert season, Hahn-Bin made his Paris debut at The Auditorium of Musée du Louvre, his Australian debut with the Queensland Orchestra at the Last Night of the Proms, his Japan debut with Bucheon Philharmonic in Muza Symphony Hall, as well as performances with Seoul and Daejeon Philharmonics at the Seoul Arts Center
.
International Auditions in January 2009 led to two important debuts; his New York debut at Carnegie Hall
's Zankel Hall (presented by architect Peter Marino) and his Washington debut at the Kennedy Center in October 2009. The performances, which juxtaposed the music of John Cage
with Frédéric Chopin
, Mozart with Witold Lutosławski, and Fritz Kreisler
with Alfred Schnittke
, won critical acclaim.
For his 2010-2011 concert season Hahn-Bin introduced The Renaissance of Classical Music, an umbrella title
for his performance projects which aim to bring classical music to a new generation. Thus far The Renaissance has included Soliloquy for Andy Warhol; his first solo performance series at The Museum of Modern Art
, The Five Poisons; the recital project inspired by Tibetan Buddhism at Rubin Museum of Art
, Hammer Museum
, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
, Morgan Library and Museum and Konzerthaus Berlin, and Still Life; the world premiere of Christopher Cerrone's new violin concerto, written and commissioned for Hahn-Bin by New York Youth Symphony
, a performance which marked Hahn-Bin's mainstage debut at Carnegie Hall
.
.
Of Hahn-Bin's performance art
, Itzhak Perlman
stated in an interview with The New York Times
:
, Vladimir Horowitz
, Allen Ginsberg
, Björk
, Nick Knight
, Robert Wilson
, Andy Warhol
, and Laurie Anderson
as some of his artistic influences.
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
debut in 2009 following a decade of study with Itzhak Perlman
Itzhak Perlman
Itzhak Perlman is an Israeli-born violinist, conductor, and instructor of master classes. He is regarded as one of the pre-eminent violinists of the 20th and early-21st centuries.-Early life:...
at the Perlman Music Program
Perlman Music Program
The Perlman Music Program was founded by Itzhak Perlman and his wife, Toby, in 1995. The program is headquartered in Shelter Island, New York. It offers exceptionally talented young string players, aged 12 to 18, a six-week summer residential courses in solo performance, chamber music, string...
and the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
.
1987–1999: Early years in Korea
Born in SeoulSeoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, Hahn-Bin began his violin studies at age five and won a top prize at the Korea Times Competition the same year. He made his first national television appearance at age eight in a documentary profiling Korean prodigies on the KBS network, showcasing his talent in violin performance and composing music, poetry, and plays. At age nine, Hahn-Bin was the youngest student accepted to the Korean National University of Arts. By age ten, Hahn-Bin had made his orchestral debut with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra
Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra
The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1948, is one of the oldest and most famous orchestras in South Korea. Its first foreign tour came on a 1965 trip to Japan, followed by performances in Southeast Asia in 1977, the United States in 1982, 1986 and 1996, a 1988 tour of Europe before the...
and performed solo recitals in several major concert halls throughout Korea.
1999–2004: Move to U.S. and International career beginnings
In 1999, Hahn-Bin moved to Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to study with Robert Lipsett
Robert Lipsett
Robert C. Lipsett, birth name "Mister Lipsett" is a renowned violin teacher in Los Angeles, California. He holds the Jascha Heifetz Distinguished Violin Chair at the Colburn School of Performing Arts. He also serves on the faculty at the Aspen School of Music, the Colburn Conservatory and the...
at the Colburn School
Colburn School
The Colburn School is a music, dance, and drama school located in downtown Los Angeles adjacent to the Museum of Contemporary Art and across the street from the Walt Disney Concert Hall...
and under his tutelage performed the Édouard Lalo
Édouard Lalo
Édouard-Victoire-Antoine Lalo was a French composer.-Biography:Lalo was born in Lille , in northernmost France. He attended that city's music conservatory in his youth. Then, beginning at age 16, Lalo studied at the Paris Conservatoire under Berlioz's old enemy François Antoine Habeneck...
Symphonie Espagnole
Symphonie Espagnole
The Symphonie espagnole in D minor, Op. 21, is a work for violin and orchestra by Édouard Lalo.-History:The work was written in 1874 for violinist Pablo de Sarasate, and premiered in Paris in February 1875....
at the 42nd Grammy Awards. A series of engagements with U.S. orchestras soon followed, including the Pacific Symphony under music director Carl St.Clair
Carl St.Clair
Carl Ray St.Clair is an American conductor.St.Clair attended the University of Texas. He later studied conducting with Gustav Meier at the University of Michigan and Leonard Bernstein at Tanglewood...
and the San Diego Symphony
San Diego Symphony
The San Diego Symphony is an American symphony orchestra, based in San Diego, California. On 6 December 1910, it gave its first concert as the San Diego Civic Orchestra.Currently, the Symphony performs over 100 concerts each season...
conducted by Murry Sidlin. Hahn-Bin became the recipient of a $3.5 million dollar Giuseppe Guarneri
Giuseppe Guarneri
Bartolomeo Giuseppe Antonio Guarneri, del Gesù was an Italian luthier from the Guarneri house of Cremona. He rivals Antonio Stradivari with regard to the respect and reverence accorded his instruments, and he has been called the finest violin maker of the Amati line...
del Gesu from the Stradivari Society
Stradivari Society
The Stradivari Society is a philanthropic organization based in Chicago, Illinois, best known for its arranging deals between owners of antique string instruments such as those made by luthiers Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri, for use by talented musicians and performers...
of Chicago in 2000. Hahn-Bin's first European tour came in 2004, performing the Sibelius violin concerto
Violin concerto
A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin and instrumental ensemble, customarily orchestra. Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up through the present day...
with Landesjugendorchester Rheinland-Pfalz led by Klaus Arp, and at age sixteen recorded works by Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt is an Estonian classical composer and one of the most prominent living composers of sacred music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs his self-made compositional technique, tintinnabuli. His music also finds its inspiration and influence from...
, Francis Poulenc
Francis Poulenc
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...
, and Leoš Janáček
Leoš Janácek
Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
for his debut album HAZE
HAZE
HAZE is the Universal Music debut album from violinist Hahn-Bin.It was released in 2005 by Universal Music Ltd. of Korea....
, released by Universal Music Korea to critical acclaim in 2005.
2004-2009: Tutelage under Itzhak Perlman and The Juilliard School
Following a video audition, Hahn-Bin was chosen by Itzhak PerlmanItzhak Perlman
Itzhak Perlman is an Israeli-born violinist, conductor, and instructor of master classes. He is regarded as one of the pre-eminent violinists of the 20th and early-21st centuries.-Early life:...
to become one of his students at the Perlman Music Program
Perlman Music Program
The Perlman Music Program was founded by Itzhak Perlman and his wife, Toby, in 1995. The program is headquartered in Shelter Island, New York. It offers exceptionally talented young string players, aged 12 to 18, a six-week summer residential courses in solo performance, chamber music, string...
in 2001. In 2004, with Perlman's invitation to join his studio at the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
, Hahn-Bin moved to New York City to further his musical studies. In an interview with Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
in 2011, Hahn-Bin said of his longtime mentor:
"[Perlman] taught me everything I know about music, and how to put everything I felt into the music for the benefit of my audiences."Hahn-Bin graduated from Professional Children's School
Professional Children's School
Professional Children's School is a not for profit, college preparatory school that was founded in New York City in 1914 to provide an education to young people working on the New York stage, in Vaudeville, or "on the road."-History:...
in 2006, and earned his Diploma from the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
in 2009.
In 2008-2009 concert season, Hahn-Bin made his Paris debut at The Auditorium of Musée du Louvre, his Australian debut with the Queensland Orchestra at the Last Night of the Proms, his Japan debut with Bucheon Philharmonic in Muza Symphony Hall, as well as performances with Seoul and Daejeon Philharmonics at the Seoul Arts Center
Seoul Arts Center
The Seoul Arts Center, literally the Hall of Arts, is a cultural center in Seocho-gu, the southern area of Seoul, South Korea.Measuring in 12,0350 m², it consists of many different halls and centers for many diverse art forms. It began construction in 1984, and opened all its doors in 1993...
.
2009-present: YCA International Auditions and The Renaissance of Classical Music
Hahn-Bin's first prize win at the Young Concert ArtistsYoung Concert Artists
Young Concert Artists is a New York City-based non-profit organization dedicated to discovering and promoting the careers of talented young classical musicians from all over the world...
International Auditions in January 2009 led to two important debuts; his New York debut at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
's Zankel Hall (presented by architect Peter Marino) and his Washington debut at the Kennedy Center in October 2009. The performances, which juxtaposed the music of John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
with Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
, Mozart with Witold Lutosławski, and Fritz Kreisler
Fritz Kreisler
Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler was an Austrian-born violinist and composer. One of the most famous violin masters of his or any other day, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing. Like many great violinists of his generation, he produced a characteristic sound which was immediately...
with Alfred Schnittke
Alfred Schnittke
Alfred Schnittke ; November 24, 1934 – August 3, 1998) was a Russian and Soviet composer. Schnittke's early music shows the strong influence of Dmitri Shostakovich. He developed a polystylistic technique in works such as the epic First Symphony and First Concerto Grosso...
, won critical acclaim.
For his 2010-2011 concert season Hahn-Bin introduced The Renaissance of Classical Music, an umbrella title
Umbrella title
An umbrella title is a formal or informal name connecting a number of individual items with a common theme. It is most often used in lieu of listing separately the separate components or providing a convenient "label" for a collection of disciplines.-Academia:...
for his performance projects which aim to bring classical music to a new generation. Thus far The Renaissance has included Soliloquy for Andy Warhol; his first solo performance series at The Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, The Five Poisons; the recital project inspired by Tibetan Buddhism at Rubin Museum of Art
Rubin Museum of Art
__notoc__The Rubin Museum of Art is a museum dedicated to the collection, display, and preservation of the art of the Himalayas and surrounding regions, especially that of Tibet...
, Hammer Museum
Hammer Museum
The Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Culture Center, or the Hammer Museum as it is more commonly known, is an art museum in the Westwood district of Los Angeles, California...
, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum or Fenway Court, as the museum was known during Isabella Stewart Gardner's lifetime, is a museum in the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located within walking distance of the Museum of Fine Arts and near the Back Bay Fens...
, Morgan Library and Museum and Konzerthaus Berlin, and Still Life; the world premiere of Christopher Cerrone's new violin concerto, written and commissioned for Hahn-Bin by New York Youth Symphony
New York Youth Symphony
The New York Youth Symphony is a tuition-free music organization for youth in New York City. Its programs include its flagship symphony orchestra, Chamber Music program, Jazz Band Classic, Apprentice Conducting, and Making Score. Its members range from 12 to 22 years of age...
, a performance which marked Hahn-Bin's mainstage debut at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
.
Performance style
Hahn-Bin's performances are noted for his unconventional presentations of classical music, as well as for the unusual juxtapositions of classical and postmodern musicPostmodern music
Postmodern music is either simply music of the postmodern era, or music that follows aesthetical and philosophical trends of postmodernism. As the name suggests, the postmodernist movement formed partly in reaction to modernism...
.
Of Hahn-Bin's performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
, Itzhak Perlman
Itzhak Perlman
Itzhak Perlman is an Israeli-born violinist, conductor, and instructor of master classes. He is regarded as one of the pre-eminent violinists of the 20th and early-21st centuries.-Early life:...
stated in an interview with The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
:
"[Hahn-Bin] is an extremely talented violinist who is very, very individual. He combines music with drama and a visual element. It’s very personal to him. When an artist feels it that personally, the audience does, too.”
Influences
Hahn-Bin has cited Maria CallasMaria Callas
Maria Callas was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century. She combined an impressive bel canto technique, a wide-ranging voice and great dramatic gifts...
, Vladimir Horowitz
Vladimir Horowitz
Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz was a Russian-American classical virtuoso pianist and minor composer. His technique and use of tone color and the excitement of his playing were legendary. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.-Life and early...
, Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
, Björk
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
, Nick Knight
Nick Knight
Nicholas Verity Knight is a former England cricketer. Knight's middle name was in honour of the 1930s English Test bowler Hedley Verity who was killed in World War II and is a distant family relation...
, Robert Wilson
Robert Wilson
Robert Wilson may refer to:In politics:* Rob Wilson , British politician and entrepreneur, MP for Reading East* Robert J. Wilson, candidate in the 1953 Manitoba provincial election* Robert John Wilson, Member of Parliament for Jarrow...
, Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
, and Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson
Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson is an American experimental performance artist, composer and musician who plays violin and keyboards and sings in a variety of experimental music and art rock styles. Initially trained as a sculptor, Anderson did her first performance-art piece in the late 1960s...
as some of his artistic influences.