But this exciting young musician plays on a rare 1807 Gagliano violin which is on loan from the Mandell Collection of Southern California, something her teacher Robert Lipsett arranged for her. And Lipsett is one of the world's premier instructors of young violin talent. Hannah and her mother head out to Los Angeles every week for lessons from Lipsett at the Colburn School of Performing Arts.

Hannah is called amazing. She's performed on television and been recognized as a child prodigy. And as a 5-year-old she won the Chinese Teachers' Music Association of California competition.

Hannah gave her first solo recital as a violinist at the ripe age of 4. She says, "I can't really remember when I started playing, but I started walking around with the violin when I was 2. As I got older I started practicing with my mom and I got more serious."

Now at 13 Hannah practices four hours a day. Her mother, who is a violin teacher, not only supervises her practice sessions, but home schools Hannah as well. The practice sessions are broken up by her other classes.

All the work is apparently paying off. On Halloween, Hannah was a solo performer with the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra. She describes playing in an orchestra as "really interesting and fun because you get to play amazing music and all the instruments get connected." Her dream, though, is to become a professional solo player. The first time Hannah performed as a soloist was when she was 6 years old. Since she's been at it so long, she says she doesn't get nervous.

She has been performing with the Youth Orchestra for three years and is the youngest of its 108 members. And the orchestra's youngest concertmaster ever, which means she leads the first violin section and answers questions from other performers. She says, "You have to know your music. You can't come into practice not knowing the music." During concerts she and the other orchestra members have sheet music in front of them as a back up, but she says, "When I play solo I don't use music."

Despite the packed practice and performance schedule, Hannah is in many ways a typical teenager. She swims regularly, emails and chats with friends online and listens to 60s rock and roll. The Beatles and Elvis are her favorites, but she says lately she's been getting into hip-hop. She also loves science fiction and books about World War II. "A lot of my family members are World War II survivors from Russia," she says. She and her family have lived in Cupertino for six years.

Of the latest trend to put "pop" into classical performances, Hannah says, "I don't think Tchaikovsky or Brahms need to be changed because they're so awesome. You can't forget the original." She says the violin is "a beautiful instrument" and feels lucky to be playing her rare Gagliano. She also says Lipsett is "a really amazing teacher."

Hannah's training will continue, but she says, "At this point I'm not sure about Julliard." She will be performing soon, though. On Dec. 11, the Youth Orchestra will perform two holiday concerts of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco.