Hilary Hahn

“Obviously, something like ballet, you have music, you dance with the music and it's a very direct connection. With visual art, when there's no music that accompanies the art, such as great m...”

“When I was starting out with record companies, there was a tendency to simplify the image as a prodigy. I have more than one adjective, and I've always tried to be myself and listen to my in...”

“If my career doesn't work out as a violinist, I want to become an archaeologist. I've read about paleontology, too - that's dinosaur bones - but I thought it would be more interesting to do...”

“For vacation, I like going to places I've never been before. I've gone to some remote places, like the Arctic Circle.”

“Something new has the chance to speak to someone immediately. There isn't this expectation of what they're about to hear, so people can be really captivated, really quickly.”

“Phrasing is the idea of finding sentences and using punctuation in speech. I often look at the score to see what's written in by the composer to see if I can find clues to those directions,...”

“I've never loved composing, because I feel like other people do it better.”

“You couldn't be performing if it weren't for the audience. I appreciate them being there. So why not applaud them? They took time out of their schedule to show up and sit in the concert hall...”

“Edgar Meyer's violin concerto was the first piece of contemporary music I worked on in any depth. I was 18 or 19.”

“It's fine with me if people want to applaud between movements of a concerto. It doesn't bother me - it's part of performance experience.”

“When I was younger, I felt more like a student working with a mentor when I worked with the conductor, but now it feels more like equals.”

“For me, the conductor is a person who interprets along with me, and we interpret things together.”

“Writing is a good creative outlet... it's a supplement to my music.”

“That word 'prodigy' has such a derogatory implication. It is used to describe people who are forced to play a lot of concerts very early, people whose audience comes because of their youth,...”

“I like to take walks and getting out and seeing things. These experiences are so irreplaceable and give you a whole different perspective on the greater context that you're in. If I didn't t...”

“I try to do a lot of direct contact with the audience, because the audience is part of the concert, too, as much as anyone on stage, and it's a shame not to get to meet them if you get the c...”

“You're not supposed to stop and listen and spy on people practicing. It's supposed to be a private thing. But it's when you come face-to-face with yourself and you look for your flaws and yo...”

“I've always heard the same doomsday concerns and yet, every day, there are people going to a classical concert for the first time - whether it's on a date or being dragged there by their gra...”

“I've continued to pursue other interests in my downtime, but I'm glad I'm a musician. It's the perfect career for me.”

“The encore should wrap up the audience's experience of the piece you just played.”