Collection: Hall, Gregory

Composer Gregory Hall (b. 1959) was passionate about harmony even before he began composing in the late 1970’s. As a result, much of his work has been concentrated on developing a contrapuntally-based musical language emphasizing neither harmony nor melody, but the successful blending of both. Hall holds composition degrees from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Ned Rorem. In 1991, the Maine Music Teachers National Association commissioned his piece the Hardanger Trio.

His orchestra work Arkadia, commissioned by the Arcady Chamber Orchestra, Bar Harbor, ME, premiered in 2001 and received several performances at various venues in Maine. Hall has composed nearly forty works for varied ensembles and participated in concerts by the ACA, SCI, Maine Arts, SEAMUS, Ought-One Festival and the Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music, Brunswick, ME, which selected him as the Maine Composer of the Year in 1997. His works have been reviewed in the New Music Connoisseur, among others. Recordings include Water: 2 Poems of W.S. Merwin for Soprano and Orchestra released in Vol. 15 of ERMMedia's Masterworks of the New Era CD series in March of 2008 and Quartet for Saxophones which will be featured in an upcoming Capstone Records recording of new quartets for saxophone, also featuring the premiere release of Lukas Foss' Saxophone Quartet.

His MAX computer music algorithm 21st Century Baroque for computer and sampling device(s) appeared on the internationally distributed MAX list CD-ROM. Hall’s works are published by ACA. From 1993 to 2005 he served as Vice-President of the Maine Composer's Forum (MCF), and then from 2005-present as President. In 2000 he was elected to the membership of the American Composers Alliance (ACA). He is a reviewer for the Contemporary Record Society (CRS) Society News Magazine and a Fellow of the Ucross Foundation.