Chill vibes

Viola

orchestral

Roos Make Music

Each nocturne in Flowers in the Darkness has a certain element of surprise to me.  When writing this set of pieces, I did not question from where they were coming.  However, it almost seems inconceivable that these pieces arrived when they did.  As the title suggests, they are flowers that grew out of absolute darkness.  

Each one of these pieces is a moment spent in that darkness.  There are times of stillness contrasted by gasps of pain.  There is a feeling of hopelessness that surrounds this work that is never relinquished.  Again, I refer to the title of the work.  A flower that is in darkness cannot hope to grow.  In its innocence, perhaps, it continues to try, ignorant of the progress it is making. 

Flowers in the Darkness - Nocturne 4

Premiere of Prairie Polka, for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, percussion, and piano, at Constellation Chicago as part of the 2014 Fresh Inc Festival.

Program Notes: Prairie Polka is a discordant gallop through tall grasses juxtaposed with high-spirited fun. The polka has been a humorous fascination of mine since visiting an Oktoberfest celebration years ago. The jubilant dance never fails to lift spirits, no matter how minor the melody or foul the mood.

This work is written for Pierrot ensemble as part of the Fresh Inc Festival in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Both woodwinds and strings alternate (and at times overlap) coloristic gestures with driving melodies. The work opens with a gently rolling expanse punctuated by strident motives and eventually progresses to more noticeable melodies. As suddenly as they appear, the dances and cacophony converge and dissipate.

Prairie Polka

Sonata a 4 Mains-Rustique/Poulenc

Studio Recording by violist Michael Hall, for whom the piece was written, and to whom it is dedicated.

Program note:  SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE was composed for violist Michael Hall, whom I’ve had the great pleasure to meet on numerous occasions and to admire his exceptional artistry.  The basic idea, and challenge, for this piece was to create a flow of events that was at once directional over the arc of the piece, while being quixotic from moment to moment, at least in many places.  Repetition of short ideas, with some variation, gives some continuity to the flow of events, but the ordering of the events is often unpredictable (especially on first hearing).  Many of the shifts from one idea to another are quite abrupt, while others are more subtle, giving rise to event-groups that suggest longer phrases.  The opening tempo mark includes the indication “Un po’ lunatico”, or ‘a bit crazy,’ which should provide a good indication of the piece’s logos.

Subject To Change Without Notice (solo viola)

Performed by Michael Hall, viola and Jan Faidley, soprano saxophone at the 2013 UMKC Composition Workshop's Final Concert. 

Tigran Mansurian – Lachrymae, viola & soprano sax (1999)

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Hollywood Blvd

Kansas City Saxophone Quartet
Ali Wright, soprano sax
Paul Lorenz, alto sax
Patrick Olmos, tenor sax
John Kelly, baritone sax

Chen Yi: Not Alone

beat with tamia sample111111

Viola: Michael Hall
Piano: Myung Hee Chung
Live Performance of the World Premiere. 

Friend and composer Christian Ellenwood and I have known each other for over twenty years.  Our relationship has witnessed each other going through the ups and downs of life, but always returning to the beautiful knowledge that we are friends. 

The beauty of friendship is expressed in the 2011 piece he wrote for me – "And the world, opening" for viola and piano. 

This live performance comes from the world premiere at the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater. 


Christian Ellenwood – And The World, Opening (2011)viola & piano. World Premiere

Live performance of the US Premiere of Chen Yi's viola concerto, Xian Shi, with Michael Hall, viola and the Chicago Composers Orchestra. Matthew Kasper, conductor.  Xian Shi is the first viola concerto written by a Chinese composer. 

Chen Yi –  "Xian Shi" Concerto for viola and orchestra. American Premiere

From the new album of Mason Bates' symphonic music with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. Released Dec 2015, it features numerous pieces that have never been released before. 
Purchase the album on iTunes (http://apple.co/1NYzF0W), Amazon (http://amzn.to/1NJuHn1), Google Play (http://bit.ly/1RddG6N) or the BMOP site (http://bit.ly/1M68IRF). 

Sea-Blue Circuitry - BMOP (excerpt)

With Me

void

ill work from soundcloud.com/sprno soundcloud.com/sprno soundcloud.com/sprno soundcloud.com/sprno soundcloud.com/sprno soundcloud.com/sprno soundcloud.com/sprno soundcloud.com/sprno //// go follow

Sprno - Haze

Composed by Yiguo Yan, Premiered by ICE at Brevard College, 2017. Score for B-flat Clarinet, Harp and Percussion.

Sacrifice Of Freedom(2017)

This is the premiere performance of my reed quintet, Aftershock. It concerns itself with the aftermath of the Pulse Nightclub shooting and how I processed that as a gay man. 

Featured is Eliza Geer (oboe), Sam Messina (clarinet), Kyle P. Connely (bass clarinet), Kameron Sheffield (alto sax.), Will Brubaker (bassoon), Aaron S. Hill (conductor). This was recorded at my 2018 Senior Recital at UMKC.

Aftershock

for Orchestra (in 4 scenes)

I. We Shall Fight (0:00-5:52)
II. Burgeon of Strength (5:53-9:17)
III. Noble Morn (9:18-14:20)
IV. The March (14:05-19:06)

CHURCHILL'S WAR for Orchestra is the next in my series of works in the realm of music and speech, exploring the inward affect of their shared physical traits (pitch, rhythm, and amplitude). The piece highlights Churchill's stirring vocal performance. Occasionally, orchestral sonorities are combined with processed recordings of Churchill's speech, weaving together sonic textures and illuminations, viscerally re- contextualizing Churchill's oration while revealing connections between melody and text.

DREW SCHNURR (2013)

Churchill's War

Michael Hall has performed and taught across Europe, Asia and the United States. Described by the New Music Connoisseur as “utterly masterful,” and Chamber Music Today as having “superb technique,” he recently made his Chicago Orchestra Hall solo debut and concluded a recital tour to Vienna, Austria and Udine and Tolmezzo, Italy. Hall has been a featured performer at the Thailand International Composition Festival in Bangkok, the Positano Chamber Music Festival in Italy, the Vianden International Chamber Music Festival in Luxembourg and the Composer’s Concordance Series in New York City. 

Twice he has presented world premieres at International Viola Congresses at Minneapolis and Reykjavik, Iceland, performed at the 2014 Primrose International Festival in Los Angeles, and presented to critical acclaim the North American premiere of Chen Yi’s, Xian Shi, the first viola concerto written by a Chinese composer, with the Chicago Composers Orchestra, and earlier with the Chiang Mai Philharmonic in Thailand. 

Upcoming performances include the inaugural Ear Taxi Festival in Chicago, 2016 New Music Gathering, Bandung String Festival in Indonesia, Northwest Symphony, 2016 UMKC Summer Composition Workshop, 2016 Thailand Int. Composition Festival in Bangkok. 

Additional works written for Hall by renowned composers include Jim Mobberley, Mara Gibson, Narong Prangcharoen, Eric Moe, Mary Kouyoumdjian, Adam Greene, Matthew Burtner, Marta Ptaszynska, Yu Pengfei, Christian Ellenwood, Seth Boustead, Michelle McQuade Dewhirst, Eric Malmquist and David Kirtley. 

Composers currently writing for Michael Hall include Katherine Bergman, Amy Williams, Rob Deemer and Ilya Levinson. 

Michael loves hiking in the Grand Tetons and Wind River Ranges, chocolate ice cream, great literature, collaborating with friends and working with students in outreach settings in underfunded schools on Chicago's South Side. 

Chen Yi – "Xian Shi" Concerto for viola and orchestra. American Premiere

Michael Hall - Viola