Senior Division Finalist, Violin, 18
Violin Concerto in D Minor, Mvt. 1
J. Sibelius
Hanu Nahm is an 18 year old attending Lincoln High School. He has been playing violin for 12 years. For the last five years, he has played in the Portland Youth Philharmonic organization. This year, he plays in the Philharmonic Orchestra along with mentoring in the Conservatory Orchestra as a Violin II section leader. Hanu studied abroad in Germany in 2021 as a youth ambassador for the United States through the Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange Scholarship. In Germany, he participated in the State Youth Orchestra (Landesjugendorchester Schleswig-Holstein), chamber music camps (Nordlandkammermusik Kurs), and won 1st Prize in several competitions including the Tchaikovsky Competition in Hamburg and the Instrumental International Competition in Kiel. After returning to the States, Hanu performed as a soloist with the Jewish Community Orchestra in February 2023. He also performed with the OSU Corvallis Symphony in 2017. He was the alternate winner representing the State of Oregon in the 2022 MTNA Competition and was a finalist in the 2022 ASTA State Solo Competition. He has won the Oregon Junior Bach Festival on multiple occasions, and received an honorable mention for the Senior Division of the 2020 MTNA Competition. He currently studies with Carol Sindell and has previously been taught by Jessica Lambert. Nowadays, in addition to violin, he is playing bassoon in his school Symphonic Band.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? Don't practice until you get it right, practice until you don’t get it wrong.
If you were stranded on a deserted island, which composer or piece of music would you bring? Sibelius Symphonies, particularly Symphony No. 1 or 2.
What is your favorite musical memory? Partaking in a theatre project during my year in Germany. I led rehearsals, played violin, and faced new challenges with the German language, but also the 80’s music genre!
Who is your favorite musician? Augustin Hadelich
Where is the most wonderful place you’ve ever been? Germany!
What is the strangest habit you have? I will use my perfect pitch to regularly determine pitches of everyday sounds in my head. If I want to be annoying, I would tell my non-musical friends what note something is.