Hilary Hahn
Even before she was a teenager, Hilary Hahn was called a child prodigy. Now that she is 42, the word "child" no longer applies to this American violinist. However, the word "prodigy" does.
Hahn is a top tier musician. She plays with pleasure and bravery, her technique is perfect and her tone is beautiful. But especially the purity with which she approaches the music is special. There is no exaggerated bravado or sentimentality anywhere. She immediately touches the core of the piece. It is the open-mindedness with which you recognize prodigies but it often disappears after the first twenty years of life.
With Hahn however, that is not the case. Her music keeps getting more and more popular as time goes on and it looks like her peak is endless. She gets massive amounts of views on all her YouTube videos with her most popular video, 'Violin Concerto No. 3' by Mozart as her most viewed video with a staggering view count of twelve million views. She knows how to bring classical music to a new high in a time where it seems like interest is declining. Some other prime examples of her achievements are her Bruch, Mozart No. 4 and 5, Sibelius, Paganini, Brahms and Bach violin concertos which all have well above a million views. She has proven herself and is therefor undoubtedly deserving of a spot in this list.