Throughout her career, Hilary Hahn has been an advocate for new music; most notably commissioning a concerto by Edgar Meyer and a Pulitzer Prize-winning concerto by Jennifer Higdon. Her recent album,Silfra, was a genre-bending experiment with prepared-pianist Hauschka. Prior to that, she released an album of sonatas by Charles Ives. More than 10 years ago, Hahn began her most ambitious project, “In 27 Pieces: the Hilary Hahn Encores,” to expand and enrich the violin repertoire. She commissioned more than two dozen composers to write short-form pieces for acoustic violin and piano and toured these new works internationally over the 2011/12 and 2012/13 seasons in countries such as Turkey, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, Austria, and Spain. On November 11, Hahn and Deutsche Grammophon will release a recording of all 27 encores in a 2-CD set.
In addition to the recording, Hahn and the composers are collaborating with music publishers Musicnotes.com and Boosey & Hawkes to create digital and physical editions, respectively, of the sheet music for the Encores, to be released alongside the album in November. It is a crucial part of Hahn’s design for the project that the music be passed on to other violinists and absorbed into the repertoire.
The idea for “In 27 Pieces: the Hilary Hahn Encores” began to take shape when Hahn noticed that new encore pieces were not being showcased as much as other types of contemporary works. Shorter pieces remain a crucial part of every violinist’s education and repertoire, and Hahn believed that potential new favorites should be encouraged and performed too. What is unique about the project, though, is the incredible depth to which Hahn has gone to discover new works. She explored the music of all the composers before personally contacting them and ran a blind online contest with open submissions to find the 27th composer.
The 26 commissioned composers are Antón García Abril, Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, Lera Auerbach, Richard Barrett, Mason Bates, Tina Davidson, David Del Tredici, Avner Dorman, Du Yun, Søren Nils Eichberg, Christos Hatzis, Jennifer Higdon, James Newton Howard, Bun-Ching Lam, David Lang, Paul Moravec, Nico Muhly, Michiru Oshima, Kala Ramnath, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Max Richter, Somei Satoh, Elliott Sharp, Valentin Silvestrov, Mark-Anthony Turnage, and Gillian Whitehead. Jeff Myers was chosen to be the final 27th composer.
To celebrate the release of the album, Hahn will host an all-day event at the Greenwich House Music School in the West Village of New York City on November 3, involving as many of the Encores composers as possible. Composers Nico Muhly, David Lang, Jennifer Higdon, Tina Davidson, Avner Dorman, Paul Moravec, Christos Hatzis and Jeff Myers will hold office hours and participate on panels at the school itself. “The Village,” which features a film score by James Newton Howard performed by Hahn, will be screened. Du Yun will create an immersive sound installation. JACK Quartet, TILT Brass, multi-instrumentalist Elliott Sharp, pianist Mackenzie Melemed, traditional Japanese instrumentalists Tomoko Sugawara and Ralph Samuelson, and others will perform. Hahn and her recital partner Cory Smythe will play all 27 encores throughout the day.
Two-time GrammyÒ Award-winning violinist Hilary Hahn has gained international recognition for her probing interpretations, compelling stage presence, and commitment to new music and the commissioning process. Her extensive tours and dynamic recordings have made her one of the most sought-after artists of this era. Hahn appears regularly with the world’s elite orchestras and on prestigious recital series in Europe, Asia, and North and South America. In the 17 years since she began recording, Hahn has released 14 feature albums on the Deutsche Grammophon and Sony labels, in addition to three DVDs, an Oscar-nominated movie soundtrack, an award-winning recording for children, and various compilations. In 2012, she released an album of Tchaikovsky and Higdon concertos. The Higdon piece, which Hahn commissioned, won the Pulitzer Prize. Her album with pianist Valentina Lisitsa is entitled Charles Ives: Four Sonatas. Hahn’s most recent album, Silfra, is a collaboration with prepared-pianist Hauschka. The record was produced by Valgeir Sigurðsson and was entirely improvised by the two performers. Known for her vivacious personality, Hahn keeps a collection of her writings at hilaryhahn.com.
