Pianist Matthew Hahn, 17, is a Merit Scholarship Fellow at the Music Institute of Chicago’s Academy, a training center for advanced pre-college musicians. He studies piano with Winston Choi and Marta Aznavoorian. Matthew has won top honors in several regional, national, and international competitions: Matthew is a 2024 National YoungArts Winner for Classical Music - Piano. In addition, he is a 2022 MTNA (Music Teachers’ National Association) National Winner of Chopin Award, granted by the Chopin Foundation of the United States. He is a Fellow of National Public Radio’s From the Top, and was also featured on NPR’s Daily Joy.
He is a First Place Winner of the Paderewski International Piano Competition and DePaul National Concerto Competition. Most recently, he was a Grand Prize Winner of the Chicago International Music Competition and First Place Winner of Enkor International Music Competition. He has been praised for his artistry and musical sensitivity and has performed at several prestigious concert venues such as Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Music Center, Preston Bradley Hall of the Chicago Cultural Center, Gannon Concert Hall, Alice Millar Chapel at Northwestern University, Warner Concert Hall at Oberlin, Nichols Concert Hall, and Unity Temple. Matthew made his solo orchestral debut at age 11, with the Trinity Community Philharmonic Orchestra, where conductor Eli Chen described Matthew as someone who “possesses a fine sound, musical touch, and nuanced sense of phrasing.” As a winner of the DePaul National Concerto Competition, in the fall of 2021, Matthew performed with the Oistrakh Symphony of Chicago Orchestra, conducted by maestro Mina Zikri. As a first place winner of the International Grand Virtuoso Competition, Matthew was invited to perform at the Beethoven House in Bonn. In addition to performing as a soloist, Matthew enjoys playing chamber music. As a member of the Luminos Piano Trio, featured on WFMT, he was a semifinalist of the 2023 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Matthew has performed in masterclasses for renowned professors and world-class pianists, including Dang Thai Son, Jerome Lowenthal, James Giles, Sylvia Wang, Alan Chow, Christopher Harding, Marina Lomazof, Edward Auer, Jeffrey Biegel, Emile Naoumoff, Asaf Zohar, Jon Kimura Parker, among others. Matthew is a junior at Lake Forest High School. He enjoys participating in math competitions and is president of his school’s Future Business Leaders of America organization, as well as vice president of LFHS Economics Finance Club. His hobbies include skiing, playing ping pong and chess, and hiking with his dog.