Classical Music Prodigies Hilary Hahn and Natalie Zhu to Perform at the Kimmel Center
October 27, 2005
Hilary Hahn
Grammy Award-winning violin prodigy Hilary Hahn and internationally renowned pianist Natalie Zhu visit the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall on Sunday, November 20 at 2pm. The duo will perform works by Ysa˙e, Enescu, Milstein, Mozart and Beethoven with the youthful spirit and emotional maturity that has captured listeners worldwide.
This performance is the first in the Kimmel Center Presents Master Musicians:String Series. The series continues with The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields with Gil Shaham on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 at 8pm in Verizon Hall. The series concludes with Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman on Sunday, April 23, 2006 at 2pm in Verizon Hall.
Tickets for Hilary Hahn and Natalie Zhu are $74, $59, $51, $41, $34, and $30, and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online or at the Kimmel Center Box Office, open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings. (Additional fees may apply) For group sales call 215-790-5883.
Making her professional debut at age 11 with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Hilary Hahn has become one of the youngest and most established professional violinists in the world. She has recorded seven bestselling and award-winning albums (including the recent Deutche Gramophone release with Natalie Zhu, Mozart Violin Sonatas), and was featured on the feature film soundtrack for M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village. She has established an illustrious career as a solo recitalist as well as appearing with major orchestras in North American, Asia and Europe, in addition to maintaining a successful career in chamber music. At only 25, she received a Grammy and was named “America’s Best Young Classical” musician by Time Magazine in 2001.
In 1990, Hahn was admitted to Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music at age 10, and was a featured soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra at age 13. She went on to play with the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. At age 15, she made her international debut with Germany’s Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and received the Avery Fisher Prize two months later. After completing her degree requirements for Curtis at age 16, she became a Sony Classical recording artist and was again a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, but this time for her New York debut in Carnegie Hall.
Also a Curtis alumnus, pianist Natalie Zhu established her career at an early age and continues to prove one of the most vibrant young musicians in recent years. She has performed as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician throughout North America, Asia and Europe including appearances with the Concerto Soloists Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the Pacific Symphony Orchestra and the Bergen Philharmonic. In 2000, Zhu was the alternate accompanist for Garrick Olson during Hahn’s US tour, and the two prodigal musicians went on to tour and record their 2005 CD, Mozart Violin Sonatas.
Zhu made her first professional appearance at age nine in her native China. Upon graduation from Curtis, she joined the faculty of her alma-mater in 2001 as a staff pianist and went on to receive a Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music. She received the Rachmaninoff Award, the 2003 Andrew Wolf Memorial Chamber Music Award and the 2003 Avery Fisher Career Grant. She was the winner of the Astral Artistic Services’ 1998 National Auditions.
A Free in the Plaza performance featuring Haddonfield Symphony Chamber Ensemble will be held in Commonwealth Plaza at 12:45pm. The ensemble will perform works by Mozart and Beethoven. Tickets for Hilary Hahn and Natalie Zhu are $74, $59, $51, $41, $34, and $30, and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online or at the Kimmel Center Box Office, open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings. (Additional fees may apply) For group sales call 215-790-5883.
A limited number of $10 tickets are available for every Kimmel Center Presents performance at the Kimmel Center. Tickets go on sale the day of the event and can be purchased at the Kimmel Center box office beginning 2.5 hours prior to evening performances and 11:30am for matinees.
Sponsors of the 2005/2006 Kimmel Center Presents season include Mellon Financial Corporation, University of Pennsylvania Health System, Sovereign Bank, The American Express Company, and Verizon Foundation. Special Student Matinees at the Kimmel Center are generously supported by Merck & Co., Inc. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Kimmel Center Presents. Toyota is the Official Vehicle of Kimmel Center Presents Jazz and World Pop programming. In-kind support is generously provided by Deloitte and Southern Wine and Spirit.
KIMMEL CENTER PRESENTS
Master Musicians: String Series
Sunday, November 20, 2005 | 2pm
Verizon Hall
Hilary Hahn, violin
Natalie Zhu, piano
Yas˙e: Sonata for violin solo No. 1 in G minor, Op. 27
Milstein: Paganiniana (Variations) for Solo Violin
Mozart: Sonata for violin & piano in G Major, K. 301
Beethoven: Sonata for violin & piano No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 12, No.3
Enescu: Sonata for violin & piano No. 3 in A minor
Free in the Plaza Commonwealth Plaza
12:45pm
Haddonfield Symphony Chamber Ensemble
Alexandra Osborne, violin
Anton Jivaev, viola
Bronwyn Banerdt, cello
Alexandar Bedenko, clarinet
Mozart: Clarinet Quartet (after Violin Sonata K. 380, arr. Anonymous)
Beethoven: String Trio in G Major, Op. 9, No. 1
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