Audi Hahn’s teaching journey began during her middle and high school years in Stratford
where she discovered her passion for teaching while volunteering at Sunday school.
she attended Salve Regina University in Newport
where she double majored in elementary education and special education
She later pursued a master’s degree in teaching reading at Southern Connecticut State University
enjoying the East Coast beaches and raising their four children: Emily
Hahn spent 16 years teaching in Stratford and Fairfield
Eric Hahn received a job offer from Domino’s Pizza
prompting the family’s relocation to Ann Arbor
She says all four of their children thrived here
graduating from Ann Arbor Public Schools and benefiting from the exceptional educators and coaches at Skyline High School
She taught at Haisley Elementary from 2014 until 2020
Hahn is an exceptional educator who embodies dedication
and creativity in her classroom,” says Bach Principal Colette Ivey
Hahn fosters a love for learning in each of her students
ignites their curiosity and nurtures their individual strengths
Her genuine care and encouragement empower her students to reach their full potential
Hahn’s commitment to her students’ success makes her a true inspiration to our school and community.”
Teacher’s Assistant Thomas Alexander has worked with Hahn for several years and says she is an “awesome” teacher
“She’s always looking out for the kids and thinking about the kids,” he said
“She’s amazing!” agreed third grader
Hahn is the best teacher because she always thinks about us; she does read-alouds; she makes rewards for us
The Hahns live in Ann Arbor with their micro bernedoodle
Her afternoons are filled with many walks with Olaf
and attending reformer pilates classes—a newfound passion she discovered just a year ago
What do you enjoy most about teaching third grade?Over my 26 years of teaching
They ask many questions and enjoy exploring new topics
Their curiosity drives them to engage actively in learning activities
How do you make your classroom feel welcoming and engaging
and why is it important?It is important to me to create a welcoming and engaging classroom environment
I have many alternative seating areas and work spaces and I love to make my room colorful and inviting
Switching student desks encourages them to make connections with different classmates
It’s a pretty simple process with yarn and cardboard
Weaving strengthens their fine motor skills and is a fun activity during Quiet Time—the 10 minutes after lunch when students have the opportunity to engage in calm
What do you like about working at Bach Elementary
and Haisley before it?Before teaching at Bach
I taught third and fourth grades at Haisley for five years
The parent community at Haisley is very supportive and working closely with their PTO was an interest of mine
I came to Bach to switch roles and use my special education background and I was a Resource Room teacher for two years
I realized I missed being in the classroom so I switched back to teaching third grade
How do you get to know your students and build relationships with them?Responsive Classroom is an approach that I love using
and emotional growth and fosters positive community
I was trained in this when I taught in Connecticut and was so happy when Ann Arbor started training teachers to use it
Students thrive in classrooms where they feel valued and have a sense of belonging
Once you have a positive community with an inclusive environment
you can challenge students and have a high engagement with learning
What advice would you give to a new teacher?Establishing and maintaining high expectations for all students is essential
Having high expectations can signal students that a teacher believes in their abilities to succeed
they are more likely to put forth effort and strive for excellence in their learning
When students are challenged with high expectations
they are motivated to work harder and overcome obstacles to meet those expectations
It is also important to make learning engaging
What are your tips for classroom management?Fostering a positive and inclusive classroom environment is very important to me
Students have high growth and achievement when they feel valued
I set up routines and procedures to make my classroom run efficiently
Keeping their materials organized and building good study skills are life-long habits
What is the best part of your workday?The best part of my workday is seeing the students enter the classroom in the morning
They are so enthusiastic and they look forward to reading the Morning Message to see what I have in store for them each day.
What do you hope your students will take away from their year in your classroom?My hope is that my students remember to put effort into everything that they do
Having a strong work ethic is a lifelong skill that is such an asset
This helps them build confidence and self-esteem
How do you spend your summers? I spend most of my summer up north at Black Lake
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Join us at the Akustika Fair at the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre from April 4-6
Meet The Strad team at stand F08 and pick up a free copy of the magazine
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The Strad Issue: January 2019 Description: Exceptional technical command and the utmost integrity and communication Musicians: Hilary Hahn (violin) Works: BACH Solo Violin Sonatas: no.1 in G minor BWV1001
no.2 in A minor BWV1003; Partita no.1 in B minor BWV1002 Catalogue Number: DECCA 483 3954
This issue completes Hilary Hahn’s first recording of Bach’s solo violin works (see cover story, October 2018)
a wider range of nuance and a more convincing appreciation of the ‘grand design’
but takes occasional liberties with his articulations; her improved structural vision is most evident in the Sonatas’ fugues
euphonious execution of the most densely polyphonic passages
extravagant arpeggiando treatment and clear realisation of the complex contrapuntal interplay
The various internal conversations in the Siciliano of BWV1001 and the gently pulsating Andante of BWV1003 are also lucidly conveyed
as are the various contrapuntal layers of the Presto of BWV1001
Negatives for me include: Hahn’s accounts of the Sonatas’ opening movements
which are not as improvisational and free-flowing as the liner notes would have readers believe; her somewhat stolid interpretation of many of the stylised dances in BWV1002; and the fact that repeats throughout are merely repetitions
this is sonorous playing of exceptional technical command and the utmost integrity and communication
Hilary Hahn has withdrawn from her US tour with the Berlin Philharmonic and all other engagements through the end of November
Charlotte Gardner attends the performance of Barber
Jennifer Higdon and Jessie Montgomery at London’s Wigmore Hall on 20 June 2023
An Argentine concerto steals the show in this post-lockdown project
US correspondent Thomas May reviews Midori’s performance of the Brahms concerto with the Seattle Symphony under guest conductor Anja Bihlmaier on 23 January 2025
An all-American celebration of the concept of home
Fine musicianship can’t quite overcome a flawed programme concept
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Twenty-five years ago a young violinist made her Chicago debut at Mandel Hall
John von Rhein noted that the 18-year-old musician “is the real thing—a prodigy who is obviously motivated by a deep love and understanding of music.” He added that “she knows exactly what she is about as a musician and has ‘Serious Artist’ written all over her.”
Those perceptive observations proved prophetic and Hilary Hahn has since gone on to enjoy a successful international career as one of the world’s top violinists
And while other musicians indulge in flashy stage garb
or get involved in extraneous side-issues or this or that passing trend
unerringly focused on performing the world’s finest music on the highest level
Currently in the middle season of a three-year term as CSO artist in residence
Hahn presented a concert of Bach’s solo violin works Sunday afternoon at Symphony Center
Music of Bach has figured prominently in Hahn’s career from the jump with her debut recording (Sony) of the German master’s solo works for violin
remains one of the finest Bach discs in the catalog
put across with a freshness and spontaneity allied to a technical mastery that belied her years.
Those qualities were winningly manifest on Sunday where Hahn’s performances of three works for solo violin
in addition to being nearly faultless technically
consistently conveyed the contrapuntal invention and expressive depths of this endlessly fascinating music
More than anything else these were individual and communicative Bach performances—varied with a flicker of vibrato
or subtle dynamic turn that always kept one alert and listening
wholly avoiding any hint of the contrapuntal sewing machine
which set an intimacy of approach for the afternoon
she took a spacious tempo for the opening Adagio
and brought lithe rhythmic flexibility to the ensuing Fuga
Her gentle half-tones and varied dynamics in the Siciliano drew one into this ruminative music
The performance was rounded off with a fiery Presto that managed to maintain an intimacy of scale
Hahn’s Bach playing feels so natural in its expressive poise that the subtleties of her bowing
pacing and dynamics can be easily overlooked—as with the easy
songful style she brought to the Allemande that opens the Partita No
dancing essence of the Courante—accelerating excitingly in the bravura double
which elicited premature applause—as well as the earthy stomp of the Bourrée
not just with faster tempi but an extra emphasis in accents and phrasings
What is perhaps most notable about Hahn’s Bach are the slow movements
In the Sarabande of BWV 1002—and indeed throughout the afternoon—her hushed playing captured the singular blend of sadness
yearning and nobility of expression that characterize Bach’s greatest slow movements.
The somber Allemande set the stage with Hahn giving it an aura of expectancy
The dance was emphasized in the buoyant accents of the ensuing Courante
and the Sarabande rendered with a wide array of dynamic detailing
as if one was eavesdropping on a private conversation
The Gigue provided contrast with its burst of Terpsichorean vitality
The four shortish movements lead to the mighty Chaconne that concludes the work
After sharply accented playing in the opening measures
Hahn began the ascent in a daringly hushed style
slowly and patiently increasing the volume and intensity with the growing welter of complex counterpoint
She brought due repose to the extraordinary reverie at the halfway mark of the movement
and tackled the build of multiple voicings to the finale with technical gleam
The immediate ovations and audience cheers from an unusually packed Symphony Center at the conclusion of the Chaconne brought the violinist back out
“I’ve got one more in me,” she said and charmingly tossed off a vivacious rendition of the Preludio from the Partita No
here making an ideal coda to a memorable concert
Let us hope that Hahn finishes the Bach set with a program of the three remaining solo violin works before her Chicago term comes to an end
Posted in Performances
Posted Mar 20, 2023 at 4:14 pm by Chuck
technique totally in service to musicality
Looking forward to her upcoming CSO concert
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HIlary Hahn performed with pianist Cory Smythe Friday night at Jordan Hall for the Celebrity Series of Boston
Just when the recital by violinist Hilary Hahn and pianist Cory Smythe Friday night at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall seemed doomed to be forgettable
Late in the program presented by Celebrity Series of Boston
Hahn returned alone to the stage and gave a riveting performance of the Ciaconna (Chaconne) from Bach’s Partita No
2 in D minor that banished all thoughts of the evening’s earlier tediums
The road to that indelible moment seemed like a long one at times
the program had everything going for it: worthy but not overfamiliar sonatas by Corelli and Fauré
one familiar but inexhaustible masterwork (the Chaconne)
and a sprinkling of new short pieces from Hahn’s current commissioning project
Beginning one’s recital with encores is certainly a way to stand out from the crowd
The duo led off with two attractive items by Antón García Abril
impressionistic music with a Spanish coloration
one piece inclined toward the lyrical and the other toward the rhetorical
The first encore group closed with Du Yun’s When a Tiger Meets a Rosa Rugosa
a delicate Chinese lament (or love song?) coupled with a furious outburst in high-pitched double stops
It was enough to get one thinking: What is an encore
it’s the French word for “again” or “more.” In a recital
it’s the little unannounced “extra,” the lagniappe
The best encores—including those familiar pieces by Kreisler or Sarasate that are the godparents of Hahn’s project—crystallize a mood and hold it in suspension
so that when it is finally released at the end there’s a little “ah.” They don’t march us through first theme
Hahn gave her composers a time limit of five minutes
Listening to the ten pieces on Friday’s program
so that the composers would be less likely to think “My God
and I’ve only got one shot,” and be tempted to throw in everything they know
or else just go on when the musical point has been made
despite the international cast of composers
there was less variety in the ten selections than one might hope for
Although the pieces bore enigmatic titles like Storm of the Eye and 133…At Least
it seemed as though many of them could have been titled Let’s See How Fast Hilary Can Play
hush” encores that calm the audience and send them floating out of the hall
One doesn’t know what instructions Hahn gave the composers
but if an encore is defined as that little lift at the end of a program
either of the García Abril pieces would serve well for that
Kala Ramnath’s Aalap and Tarana wove a sensuous Indian mood with a languid violin melody and variations over a soft drone and plucked notes in the piano
And the program-closing group of three encores ended with Ford’s Farm by Mason Bates
a bluesy dance with droll double-stopping à la Stravinsky’s Tango and also some fancy fiddling and banjo figuration—a violation of the “do one thing well” rule for encores
billed in his program biography as a specialist in new music
While Hahn seemed to take a proprietary interest in projecting the character of the pieces she commissioned
the older works in the program’s first half didn’t fare so well
In contrast to such extroverted contemporaries as Vivaldi and Tartini
Arcangelo Corelli was especially known for the exquisite sensitivity of his playing and compositions
but one would hardly have known it from the duo’s rendering of his Sonata in F major
Hahn played the slow movements clearly and correctly but without much expression
while Smythe’s fingers were tangled in the fussy ornaments of a figured-bass realization clearly intended for a harpsichord
lively and articulate with touches of humor here and there
Hahn played a hopping fugue with herself in double stops
a delightful foretaste of the great Bach work to come
the two players worked together impressively
Smythe in particular weaving his counterpoints through the lush texture and sensing exactly how much big Romantic piano sound he could lay on without covering the violin
the performance sounded rather dry and detached
here’s this piece that a young French Romantic composer wrote for himself to play with the brother of his fiancée
Don’t pile your own effusions on top of his effusions
The sonata performance was interrupted twice by applause
once after the duo got up a good head of steam for the first movement’s big finish
and again in recognition of their pinpoint timing in the scherzo’s skittering staccato figures and pizzicato close
But the melancholy Andante was a desert of monochromatic matter-of-factness
and the elusive charm of the finale entirely eluded these performers
None of this boded well for Bach’s Chaconne
a long set of variations on a short theme that calls for the utmost in emotional insight and variety of tone color
qualities that had been conspicuously lacking in the sonata performances
Following the intermission and another set of three encores
stood dead center in front of the curve of the piano
There may have been weightier interpretations of this piece than hers
or more inclined to linger over each variation
but few can claim the kind of deep-wave momentum she brought to it
one could hardly wait to see what new wonder would emerge
be it the voicing that sometimes produced the sensation of two or three instruments playing instead of one
or the dizzying wheels-within-wheels of the ecstatic string-crossing variations
With the spotlight entirely on the lone player
even mundane technical matters such as impeccable bow control and intonation became wondrous objects to contemplate
But the musical results in tone color and projection of emotion were the best reward
especially the achingly reluctant return from the D-major dream to D-minor reality
When Hahn at last brought the piece to earth on a final D
the stored wave energy in the audience burst in a standing—no
The program still had three more short pieces to go
one wonders how the composers felt about following one of the monuments of Western civilization—and in such a performance
although the need (if any) for something to bring listeners down from the heights of Bach had long passed
will no doubt be just the right charming “extra” for some future program
The next presentation of Celebrity Series of Boston will be pianist Jeremy Denk 8 p.m. Saturday at Jordan Hall. celebrityseries.org; 617-482-6661
Posted in Performances
2018 at 06:50 PM · I think we need to start a "go fund me" campaign so Hilary Hahn can buy new trousers
There's a hole in the knee of the ones she's wearing
2018 at 01:57 AM · She's so wonderful
definitely one of my favorite violinists of all time
I really hope to see/listen to her live soon
2018 at 06:03 AM · It was a wonderful concert to attend
Also because I had not read the handouts closely
I thought she was signing copies of the recently rereleased Bach concertos album with LACO
I saw later that it was infact the NEW Bach solos
I was also surprised that those not-yet-released solo Bach CDs were the ones being sold
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Discover the best of Violinist.com in these collections of editor Laurie Niles' exclusive interviews
Violinist.com Interviews Volume 1, with introduction by Hilary Hahn
Violinist.com Interviews Volume 2, with introduction by Rachel Barton Pine
How did you spend the time when you were 17
Probably not making a flashy recording debut playing some of Bach’s music for solo violin
That was the achievement in 1997 of Hilary Hahn
who sailed through undaunted by music that requires tremendous technical
intellectual and emotional reserves and leaves a player with no place to hide
Now the American violinist is 38 (how time flies) and out comes an album featuring the pieces she missed out before
created by someone who has lived with Bach so regularly and deeply that his music seems part of her very being
Her teenage Bach hurtled a bit and the top speeds here are still
Hilary Hahn performs the Courante Double (Presto) from Bach’s Solo Partita for Violin no.1 in B Minor, BWV1002. The video was recorded as part of the launch of Hahn’s Bach Solo Sonatas and Partia album, released on Decca in 2018, and reviewed by The Strad.
Watch: Hilary Hahn plays Sibelius aged 16
Read: Life Lessons: 3 questions for Hilary Hahn
Leah Hollingsworth watches an innovative balletic performance with music by Max Richter
Max Baillie shares the inspiration behind a programme centred on Bach’s lesser known and performed Partita
exploring the work’s multi-layered celestial writing via a team of improvisers and collaborators
Who needs the full symphony orchestra when you can play the whole thing on one violin
The violinist and vocalist performs ’A Change is Gonna Come’ by Sam Cooke
a song that became an anthem for the American Civil Rights Movement
The mixed-instrument quartet performs a work that is quite clearly