Winner of Mercer Concerto Competition to perform violin solo at upcoming symphony orchestra concert
By Michael Pannell, The Macon Melody
Could there be a better moment for Hanami Froom to be featured as solo violinist during a Macon-Mercer Symphony Orchestra concert?
The just-turned-19-year-old, second-year violinist at the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University will perform Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto on Monday as the winner of the university-wide Mercer Concerto Competition.
And her name, Hanami, literally means “flower viewing.” But more specifically, in Japanese culture, it refers to enjoying the beauty of cherry blossoms.
“If you write Hanami in Japanese, it’s made of two words,” Froom said. “Hana, which means flower, and Mi, which means to look. It’s also taken to mean beautiful flower. I was born in March — my birthday was just days ago — and my parents liked the name. So it’s very cool to be in Macon this time of year. I really enjoy the Cherry Blossom Festival.”
Born in Portland, Hanami said she began playing a small violin at age 2 because her hands were too small for piano. Just a few years later, she did begin piano and it became her main instrument.
Until about age 7, that is. That’s when she said her heart turned back to violin, and she quickly began making a name for herself as a prodigy. It was at that early age she made her solo debut with an orchestra and began playing as a member of her hometown Portland Youth Philharmonic.
By the time she was 10, Froom had already begun soloing with the Metro Arts Orchestra and continued with musical organizations like the Jewish Community Orchestra and Portland Youth Philharmonic Conservatory Orchestra.
At 14, she appeared as guest soloist with the Oregon Symphony, and at 15 she was a winner of competitions held by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
That same year, she was invited by the Portland Chamber Orchestra to perform selections of Tomas Vitali, Johann Sebastian Bach, Fritz Kreisler, Christian Sinding and Jean Sibelius.
Through those young years, accolades mounted and she continued winning local and national competitions.
In the past couple of years, Froom has remained a prolific performer. She’s served as concertmaster with the McDuffie Center for Strings, including their performance at Carnegie Hall this year, and with the Macon-Mercer Symphony. She has been featured in Fabian Concert Series chamber orchestra concerts and, last October, was a featured performer with the Savannah Philharmonic.
“I just really enjoy playing the violin,” Froom said. “When I was little, I would wake up every morning and want to play. It was fun. I would outgrow my small violin sizes so quickly and have to get a new one, like school children have to get new shoes all the time. I feel one reason I chose violin over piano was because I like playing with others in an orchestra. I still enjoy piano and take lessons here, but when I had to make a choice, it was violin.”
Froom said she spends time with relatives in Japan each summer. On one trip, she had to leave her violin in the U.S. and went without playing for 10 days.
“Suddenly, I didn’t have it, and I realized how much I love playing,” she said. “I feel physically strange if I don’t play every day. I feel it’s an outlet. If I’m stressed, if I practice, I feel better.”
How did Froom end up across the country in Macon at the McDuffie Center when she could have chosen any prestigious school to attend?
Froom said she graduated high school two years early and decided to take a gap year, but not a year away from violin. One of her conductors, a mentor, had been a member of the Oregon Symphony when Amy Schwartz Moretti had been concertmaster there. Moretti, a virtuoso violinist, had since become director of the McDuffie Center. Froom’s mentor told her about the center and Moretti.
“I was 17, still living in Portland and not looking for universities yet,” Froom said. “He said I should meet Ms. Moretti and told me what an amazing person and musician she was.
“He said the center was not big, limited to 27 students, and was a very nice, intimate environment — a great place for me to start going at 17.
“I got in contact with Ms. Moretti, visited and got to attend a masterclass. I went back to Portland loving the Center, but it was a huge decision, and I had no idea what to do. Then, I got a call from Mr. McDuffie. He was, like, ‘If you have any questions, I’d be glad to answer them.’
“Of course, I’d known who he was for years and was surprised to get a call. He’s such a great, well-known violinist. I was sort of shocked. I told him I was happy I found out about the center and was interested, but it was a big decision, and I wasn’t sure what to do. He ended up flying to Portland and gave me a wonderful lesson. Then I was thinking, ‘This is a sign. I should go.’ And I’m very grateful I did.”
This summer, Froom will play at the Rome (Italy) Chamber Music Festival.
McDuffie is equally glad of her decision.
“Hanami is an exceptional talent,” he said. “She came to us a year and a half ago as a prodigy with raw musical instincts. Her trust in her teachers, combined with her desire to improve, has placed her as one of the top young violinists in the country. As is the case with so many other students at the McDuffie Center, Hanami is making the most of the opportunities presented to her. She inspires us all.”
Moretti agrees.
“Hanami is a very special talent,” she said. “No one can say playing the violin is easy, but Hanami has a gift of making it look that way. She is a truly dedicated musician and such a joy to teach. I’m so proud of her and can’t wait to hear this performance.”
Froom will be performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto on Monday. She said it’s one of her favorite pieces and what she played to win the concerto competition.
In reality, Froom is a co-winner of the competition. Judges’ voting made Froom’s fellow McDuffie Center student Kathryn Fakeley a co-winner also. Fakeley will be featured with the symphony on cello next season.
Yaniv Segal guest conducts Monday’s concert which includes Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade Op. 35.
Multi-talented as a conductor, composer, violinist, singer and actor, Segal has just been named principal conductor and artistic director of Orchestra Indiana. Involved in the arts since he was a child, his non-conducting activities range from having performed as a boy soprano at the Metropolitan Opera as an 8-year-old to doing recordings and voiceovers, including for a Pepsi TV spot.
“Monday’s selections provide a wonderful program of favorites,” Segal said. “The Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto is considered one of the greatest violin concertos of all time and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade has been popular since the day it was first performed, and for good reason. Both works highlight the strength of the McDuffie Center for Strings as well as the combined forces of the MMSO with principal players of the Atlanta Symphony. Hanami Froom is just a sophomore and already phenomenal. In the Rimsky-Korsakov, there’s the big concertmaster solo that appears throughout the work performed by graduating senior Kayla Yagi-Bacon. I’m looking forward to digging into this music with all these incredible musicians.”
This is Segal’s first year as conductor of the McDuffie Center for Strings.
“It’s my job to prepare the students for the repertoire they will perform with other guest conductors as well as myself and to train them to be good orchestral musicians. As conductor, I do have a leg up: my mother was a violinist in the New York Philharmonic for 40 years and I’m also an experienced violinist. It has been an absolute pleasure to share the wisdom imparted to me by my mother and watch the students grow this year. I know the Macon audiences are in for a treat at every concert.”
Monday’s Macon-Mercer Symphony concert is at The Piedmont Grand Opera House at 7:30 p.m. Singel tickets range from $25 to $35 and students are admitted free with a valid ID. More information is at mcduffie.mercer.edu/symphony.
Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com. Find him on Instagram at michael_w_pannell.