Hahn-Bin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hahn-Bin
Birth name	Hanbin Yoo
Born	August 3, 1987 (1987-08-03) (age 20)
Origin	Seoul, Korea
Genre(s)	Classical
Years active	1999-Present
Label(s)	Universal Music
Website	Hahn-Bin.com

Hahn-Bin (born August 3, 1987) is a Korean-born violinist.

1 Biography
2 Discography
3 External links
4 Notes

[edit] Biography

Hahn-Bin was born in Seoul, Korea in 1987. He began his violin studies at age five and the same year became a top prizewinner at the most prestigious competition for young musicians in Korea. Hahn-Bin was quickly recognized as a child prodigy and made his first national television appearance at age 8 in an hour-long documentary showcasing his talents in violin as well as in his poems, plays, music, and paintings. Later that year, Hahn-Bin auditioned for the renowned Korean National University of Arts' Preliminary School and became its youngest student. By age ten, Hahn-Bin had made his orchestral debut with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and performed in virtually every major concert hall in Korea.

Hahn-Bin moved to Los Angeles to study with the famed violin teacher Robert Lipsett who immediately presented the eleven-year-old at the Grammy Awards' Salute to Classical Music honoring the legendary Isaac Stern. The late violinist not only praised him as 'An amazing talent' after his debut performance in United States, but also gave Hahn-Bin invaluable guidance in future music education. A series of engagements soon followed, with numerous orchestras including the Pacific Symphony and the San Diego Symphony.

At age twelve Hahn-Bin became the recipient of a 1735 Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu from the Stradivari Society of Chicago. This notable event was accompanied with a feature article in various publications by the award-winning journalist Sam Weller. Weller recalled Hahn-Bin's first performance with the instrument: "The music that the young boy coaxes from the violin is a tour de force. For twenty minutes, the velvet sound wallpapers the room, swelling ever more intense with each ensuing measure. Eyes closed, [Hahn-Bin] is calling spirits."^[1]

By age 14, Hahn-Bin had established himself as a true rising star of the classical music world. But surprisingly, Hahn-Bin made the controversial decision to put a temporary stop to his music career. Cancelling numerous appearances, he spent eight months away from the concert stage to pursue his interests in the visual arts, enrolling at the Otis College of Arts and Design, and also broadening his musical horizons through vocal, piano, and composition lessons.

Hahn-Bin returned to concertizing in 2003, with various projects that surpassed all of his previous achievements in their scope. Hahn-Bin made his European debut in a four-city concert tour of the Sibelius Violin Concerto under the direction of Klaus Arp with the Landesjugendorchester Rheinlad-Pfalz of Germany, along with performances in five cities in the U.S. with the orchestra later that year. Hahn-Bin also signed with Universal Music Ltd. and began recording in Seoul for his debut album ^[2] in 2004 with pianist John Blacklow. The album was preceded with a recital tour of the same title in United States and Korea before it was released to enormous critical acclaim in the summer of 2005. In addition, Hahn-Bin moved to New York in 2004 after being invited by Itzhak Perlman (with whom he had begun studying in 2002 at the Perlman Music Program) to join his highly-selective teaching studio at the Juilliard School. Hahn-Bin now studies with both Perlman and Catherine Cho at Juilliard.

With boundless interests in the category of art, Hahn-Bin continues to work on experimental art specifically through photography, fashion, painting, literature, and music. His inspirations have included Gertrude Stein, Rei Kawakubo, Marianne Faithfull, Yoko Ono, and Egon Schiele.

For Hahn-Bin, music outreach has always been an important aspect as a classical musician. Hahn-Bin has collaborated with artists such as Carl St. Clair, Yehuda Gilad, Klaus Arp, and members of the Pacific Symphony and the Zipper Orchestra in numerous performances to support music education in public schools. In 2004 Hahn-Bin was named as an honoree of future leaders in arts by Tommy Lasorda and the Los Angeles Dodgers Association.