New Classic
Classical violinist Hahn-Bin is not your grandfather's classical violinist.
By ANGELO PITILLO
Photographed by KATE KUNATH
With his sculpted jet-black dairy-whip 'do, neo-goth eye
makeup and stagewear by the likes of Gareth Pugh, Rick Owens
and Damir Doma, Hahn-Bin fits nobody's image of a typical classical
violinist. It's no wonder then that the precocious 23-year-old
Korean-born prodigy, a protégé of Itzhak Perlman whose 2009
Carnegie Hall debut came when he was barely out of Julliard, has
burst out of the straight-and-narrow confines of the symphony
hall. He's known for high-concept performance pieces that combine
fashion, the visual arts and of course his world-class musicianship.
In spaces as diverse as the Louis Vuitton boutique, the MoMA
and the Boom Boom Room, Hahn-Bin has been developing a new
kind of classical music experience, which puts his unique visual
identity right at center stage. "I have now become the drama," he
says. "I am the art."
And now Hahn-Bin has set his sights on bringing classical music back to the mainstream, the way it was back when musicians like Maria Callas and Van Cliburn were mobbed at airports and chased by paparazzi. "There is so much dumbing down in pop music," he says. "I think classical music has the energy, intensity and integrity to re-focus American pop culture and make it something special." The assault begins this summer with his newest touring project "Till Dawn Sunday," which will include an online video diary and culminate in a CD release at the end of the year. "It's a performance art piece that's a musical cabaret as well," says Hahn-Bin. "It represents how fully a human being can experience the beauty and terror of life."
Whether or not this ambitious artist can succeed in changing the tastes of young America, Hahn-Bin clearly has the energy and drive to give it a shot. And he, for one, is sure of success: "I haven't released a single music video or album," he says. "Give me about three to four years. You'll see me doing it. The world will be a much chicer and more sophisticated artistic environment."
And now Hahn-Bin has set his sights on bringing classical music back to the mainstream, the way it was back when musicians like Maria Callas and Van Cliburn were mobbed at airports and chased by paparazzi. "There is so much dumbing down in pop music," he says. "I think classical music has the energy, intensity and integrity to re-focus American pop culture and make it something special." The assault begins this summer with his newest touring project "Till Dawn Sunday," which will include an online video diary and culminate in a CD release at the end of the year. "It's a performance art piece that's a musical cabaret as well," says Hahn-Bin. "It represents how fully a human being can experience the beauty and terror of life."
Whether or not this ambitious artist can succeed in changing the tastes of young America, Hahn-Bin clearly has the energy and drive to give it a shot. And he, for one, is sure of success: "I haven't released a single music video or album," he says. "Give me about three to four years. You'll see me doing it. The world will be a much chicer and more sophisticated artistic environment."
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