An Interview with Hanah Stuart
Hanah Stuart – who studies at the renowned Juilliard School in New York – joined our Violin Masterclasses in April. She has been chosen to play in the YouTube-Sinfonie-Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in spring. Now – being back in New York and with some distance to her stay at Kronberg – she answered some questions about her daily “musician” life and her thoughts about Kronberg.
Hanah Stuart during the workshop with Roby Lakatos. Photo: Lutz Sternstein/Kronberg Academy
What do you have in mind now when you think about Kronberg?
I think of nothing but amazing things of course. It was my first time in Germany and it definitely will not be the last. Even though I studied German in school for the last semester, I felt all tongue tied and could barely say “Guten tag” without stuttering. Thank goodness most people knew more English than I knew German. Besides that, I just remember all the awesome players, teachers, and the many friends that I made in the short time I was there. Facebook really helps to keep in touch.
How do you feel about Kronberg and the Germans?
I was walking around die Stadt with Iskandar (a fellow participant) and it was like the town was out of a fairy tail. I really felt like we were in Hansel and Gretel or in the Shire and Hobbits should be walking about or something. It was perfectly charming. As for Germans, for someone who has only taken German about a semester in school, they speak too fast for me! Although I now know a German phrase not taught in the text book… “Ach so, genau” was used almost as much as “like” is in English!
You have been chosen to play at the students’ final concert. How were you selected?
With these types of international masterclasses, scheduling is going to be changing every five minutes so you are really kept on your toes. I had no idea what I was going to play and a last minute change had me calling my boss to break into my room to fax the music from New York. It was special :) but things like this seem to happen to me often so you learn to roll with the punches.
How did you feel about getting the chance to play with seven other students at the final concert?
Of course I was honored to be one of eight chosen for the final concert! In a place where everyone is good, if not outstanding, you can’t help but feel special!
Do you give public concerts on a regular basis?
I often perform because of school and as students, we are often encouraged to perform whenever and wherever. I was just in Iowa with some Juilliard students giving a concert at a local college in Dubuque. Even if it isn’t a ‘high scale’ event, any performing opportunity is fun with a grateful audience.
How can our readers imagine your professional life? Please tell something about your practicing, first concerts etc.
My professional life: oy, what a loaded question. These international masterclasses make you think outside the box. Because you are taken out of what you know, you learn so much and start thinking maybe you can do something very different than what you set out for when you were younger. I never think of violin playing as a ‘professional life’ mainly because any pay checks seem to go straight back to school for tuition. When it comes to practicing, I’m not afraid to take breaks but I’ll do what I have to do which means making myself schedule concerts or buying plane tickets to try out for masterclasses, etc. I can go from practicing less than an hour to four hours depending on my schedule. I’ve had overuse injury issues in the past so I try and practice efficiently and spread out my hours whenever possible.
Do you already play together with famous soloists or orchestras?
The first famous person I played with was Sarah Chang on a radio show. Since then, I have soloed with several regional orchestras across the US mainly as awards from winning competitions. After I attended Keshet Eilon in Israel last summer, I was invited to play in Carnegie Hall with Ida Haendel and Ani Shnarch for a benefit concert. I’ve also had a lot of media appearances in documentaries for various festivals, summits, and shows that I’ve been in. I’m still working on finding my exact niche for this musical world.
You have applied for the YouTube-Sinfonie-Orchestra and have been chosen to play at Carnegie Hall. Please tell us about this experience. Did it help your career?
The Youtube Symphony was a really really fun experience even though they worked us hard for the three days we were there. We rehearsed for 10 hours each of the two days before the concert and another 4 hours the next day and then of course performing 2.75 hours worth of music. MTT is awesome to work with and of course hanging out with all the musicians is like any other music festival. In terms of it helping the career: I can’t tell. People who know me definitely could pick me out and I would get facebook posts saying: hey I think I saw you! and all that jazz but I haven’t gotten signed by management or anything like that. It’s just another completely fun and awesome experience that I had this spring.
Thanks a bunch for answering my questions!
Ulrike Schmid
Schlagworte: Hanah Stuart, Interview, Juillard School
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