Hilary Hahn Awarded the Avery Fisher Prize

Last night, on the stage of David Geffen, formerly Avery Fisher, Hall, violinist Hilary Hahn was awarded the $100,000 Avery Fisher Prize in recognition of her outstanding artistic achievement and leadership in classical music. The award, established precisely 50 years ago, was presented to her by Deborah Borda, chair of the Avery Fisher Artist Program. Hahn had just completed a performance of Prokofiev’s First Violin Concerto with the New York Philharmonic under Jakub Hruša.

Hahn, Musical America’s 2023 Artist of the Year, joins a distinguished roster of previous recipients, many of them now on the Awards committee, including Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, Jeremy Denk, and Anthony McGill, her immediate predecessor in 2020. She becomes the 26^th recipient of the Prize, awarded only periodically and funded as part of its namesake’s gift to Lincoln Center in honor of his philanthropy and love of music. The Avery Fisher Program also awards smaller career grants, one of which went to a 15-year-old Hilary Hahn in 1995.

“It encouraged me to push hard to have my voice heard as an artist,” she recalled in receiving the top prize, “to expand my horizons with new projects, and to strive to deepen the artistic meaning of my work.” She sees the prize as validation that her achievements have “been seen and recognized by my community. But most important, I feel encouraged and inspired to keep forming connections and building community with audiences, composers, and fellow artists around the world.”

She’s been doing just that throughout her career. Using social media long before most of her colleagues caught on to it, Hahn has managed to share her artistry with a huge fan base, bringing a human touch to it with her “#100daysofpractice,” which has attracted a huge following and generated nearly one million posts from fellow performers and students. Her “Bring Your Own Baby” concerts encourage parents to bring their infants to specialized performance sessions—all a part of connecting with and creating community.

Speaking of which, she has two high-profile residencies, one with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and one with the New York Philharmonic. She is also a visiting artist of the Juilliard School. Hahn has performed with virtually all of the major orchestras and is featured on 23 recordings on the Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, and Sony labels. And then there are all her commissioning initiatives…. In sum, a well-deserved and timely recognition for a hard-working artist.