Hilary Hahn, the two-time Grammy-winning American violinist, has won the 11^th Glashütte Original Music Festival Award. The award was presented to her by Glashütte Original’s Managing Director Yann Gamard and the Director of the Dresden Music Festival Jan Vogler, during a concert in the Semperoper on June 4, where Hahn performed as a soloist with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra under Paavo Järvi. The Glashütte Original Music Festival Award seeks to recognize achievements in encouraging young musicians and promoting classical music education. Previous winners include Gustavo Dudamel, Thomas Quasthoff, Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic.Hahn was chosen for the award, worth €25,000, for being an inspiration to young musicians, reaching out to young classical music fans and her highly popular social media projects, which have helped her to reach out to a broader audience. As an artist, Hahn is also known for her recordings that often feature both newer and more traditional pieces, as well as her efforts to promote new works by commissioning and recording them. On the topic of her online presence, Hahn noted in an interview with Dresden Musikfestspiel Magazin that the Internet is a good medium for learning about the classical music industry, both for people looking to enter it and for members of the public who want a look behind the scenes. Hence, she sees her online activities “as an insight into the way [she] experience[s] [her] profession and…music making”.Like its previous editions, the award trophy was built by two apprentice watchmakers from the Alfred Helwig School of Watchmaking owned by Glashütte Original. Located in Glashütte, the school is now in its 12^th year, and trains watchmakers and toolmakers. Needless to say, the award has links to horology and the school – the flying tourbillon in the trophy is widely considered a sign of a watchmaker’s virtuosity, and was developed in Glashütte around 1920 by watchmaking Alfred Helwig, after whom the school is named.

We’ve also included a video from Hahn’s official YouTube channel below. It features Hahn’s recording of an encore she commissioned James Newton Howard to composed, set to a video submitted by a fan in an online contest.