Avery Fisher Prize Announces 2024 Winner

Now celebrating its 50th Anniversary, the prize and $100,000 has been awarded to violinist Hilary Hahn

Established in 1974 as part of a major gift to Lincoln Center, the Avery Fisher Artist Program provides recognition in two categories, the Prize and Career Grants, to outstanding U.S. instrumentalists and chamber ensembles.  

At a recent award ceremony in David Geffen Hall, violinist Hilary Hahn was awarded the 2024 Avery Fisher Prize and a cash prize of $100,000, for her exceptional artistic achievement and leadership in classical music.  

The event also featured Hahn performing Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with conductor Jakub Hrůša and the New York Philharmonic, where she is the 2023/24 artist-in-residence.  

Hahn is now the ninth violinist to be awarded an Avery Fisher Prize and has also entered the Avery Fisher Artist Program’s Recommendation Board. 

She joins the 25 previous Prize recipients, including the Kronos Quartet; cellist Yo-Yo Ma; pianist Emanuel Ax; and violinists Sarah Chang, Pamela Frank, Midori, Joshua Bell, and Gil Shaham. 

A three-time GRAMMY Award-winner, Hahn is featured on labels including Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, and Sony, with her most recent recording being Ysaÿe’s six sonatas for solo violin. 

She is currently in her third season as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s first artist-in-residence, and holds the role of Visiting Artist at The Juilliard School, and Curating Artist of the Dortmund Festival.

Additionally, Hahn’s projects have included “Bring Your Own Baby” concerts for parents of infants to share their enjoyment of classical music with their children, as well as her social media initiative #100daysofpractice, which has accompanied nearly one million posts from fellow performers and students.

Among her accolades are Musical America’s 2023 Artist of the Year, the 2021 Herbert von Karajan Award, and the Glasshütte Original Music Festival Award, which she donated to music education nonprofit Project 440.

“From the beginning of my career, I saw the Avery Fisher Prize as a high honor: the recipients were people who had already made a historically large impact in our field, yet had the stature, skill, and curiosity to move in any direction,” Hahn said in the press release. 

“When I was awarded the Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1995, when I was fifteen, it felt like a recognition that this could someday be in my future,” she expressed. “It encouraged me to push hard to have my voice heard as an artist, to expand my horizons with new projects, and to strive to deepen the artistic meaning of my work.

“Having now come full circle, I feel proud of what I have achieved as an artist, and validated that that work has been seen and recognized by my community. But most important, I feel encouraged and inspired to keep forming connections and building community with audiences, composers, and fellow artists around the world.”