MARIMBA
“He graces even the fastest passage with a sense of direction. He’s a showman who appears calmly in control…. while demonstrating a deep understanding of the marimba as an instrumental medium.”
J. Alfred Thigpen, Grand Rapids Press
“Hall delivered a tour-de-force reading of the concerto…. a highly demanding piece only a top-flight virtuoso can pull off. We heard a wealth of nuance and a wide palette of color amid the virtuosic acrobatics. Hall played with as much artistic sensitivity as pure panache.”
Charles Olegar, Grand Rapids Press
“This playing is truly sensational… you have mastered the subtleties of nuance and your expression flows with rhythmic vitality.”
NACUSA Judge
“I am much impressed with your virtuosity, your obvious dedication and authority.”
Martin Bernheimer, Los Angeles Times
PRESS KIT
AUDIO
As one of America’s leading marimbists, David Hall has been delighting audiences with his “nonchalant bravura” for years. Known for his virtuosity and musical sensitivity, “Hall captures the audience with his ease of performance and stuns listeners with the musical capacity of the marimba” (Grand Rapids Press). Winner of the Top Prize Awarded at the 1998 Leigh Howard Stevens International Marimba Competition,
Mr. Hall’s performances are characterized by their grace, power, and emotion, urging one reviewer to comment, “It is clear that Hall’s devotion to the marimba is simply an extension of his already brilliant musical nature.” Of “Saudacaõ,” Hall’s first marimba CD featuring the Grand Rapids Symphony, Percussive Notes magazine comments, “Saudação features some of the best and most advanced repertoire for the marimbist, exquisitely performed by David Hall.”
In addition to his many recitals in Michigan, Mr. Hall has soloed numerous times with the Grand Rapids Symphony, the Grand Rapids Ballet, West Shore Symphony, Battle Creek Symphony, Holland Chamber Orchestra, Kent Philharmonia, and the Aspen Philharmonia. He has presented clinics in Michigan, New York, Ohio, and Massachusetts. In 1999, Mr. Hall was invited to Taiwan by the Ju Percussion Group for a week-long marimba concert tour where he performed Bernstein’s West Side Story Suite and Bach’s Chaconne. A Fellow in Percussion at the 1986 Tanglewood Music Center,
Mr. Hall worked with many renowned conductors including Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, and John Williams.
Additional awards and competitions include winning the Aspen Music Festival Concerto Competition in 1985 and 1987, the National Association of Composers USA Young Performers Competition in 1990, and Finalist in the 1995 LHS Marimba Competition.
A native of Concord, Massachusetts, Hall began playing percussion at the age of ten, eventually studying with Fred Buda and Everett Beale of the Boston Pops Orchestra. His passion for music led him to Ithaca College where he first became aware of the marimba’s potential at a faculty recital by Gordon Stout. Immediately enamored with and dedicated to this unique instrument, Hall won the Annual Concerto Competition an unprecedented three years in a row, performing concertos by Creston, Kurka, and Mendelssohn (a transcription of the famous violin concerto). He then completed his Master’s in Music at the Eastman School of Music, studying with John Beck, where he was awarded the prestigious Performer’s Certificate. Upon graduation in 1987, Mr. Hall joined the Grand Rapids Symphony as Assistant Principal Percussionist and Assistant Timpanist. He teaches percussion at Michigan State University, Calvin College, and Cornerstone University. He is a past president of Michigan Percussive Arts Society and has twice been a clinician at the Day of Percussion
Mr. Hall is married and has two sons, Benjamin and Evan.
