Dr. Hall, associate professor and saxophone instructor, will be holding a recital this upcoming Friday. People looking for a performance that stands out from most recitals will be pleased with the upcoming repertoire.
“It’s going to be what is alternatively called “experimental, avant garde, contemporary… I don’t think that we’re going to find a major chord or a triad anywhere to be found. It’s very different musical language,” said Dr. Hall.
Dr. Hall is not interested in the idea of self expression through his music. Rather, he has focused on what he calls “intellectual inquiry through music,” or interaction of the arts with what we consider traditional academic research.
“I have been working with Mischa Hooker up in Classics, and we’ve done a couple of projects. This is our third project, where we take an ancient Greek text, and then I create an electronic piece based on that,” said Dr. Hall.
The piece is called “The Orphic Gold Plates.” The audience can expect to see projected and distorted images that provoke thought along with Dr. Hall’s music.
“(It’s) an experience meant to provoke thinking about our human existence in the universe, our spiritual journey in the face of ultimate reality: the chaos of life seeking meaning in the beyond… I really enjoy Dr. Hall’s attempt to create a kind of spiritual experience through music, and it has been personally fascinating to see and hear the end result,” said Dr. Hooker.
Susan Schwaegler will also be performing in the piece on bass clarinet. She and Dr. Hall will be performing first, a duet called “We Speak Etruscan” by Lee Hyla. The rest of the program are pieces by Christian Lauba, electronic pieces by Dr. Hall, and the final piece will be a solo written by French composer Marie-Hélène Fournier called Le Fusain fuit la gomme.
Senior Elijah Olsen, who has taken lessons from Dr. Hall for four years, to attest to his creativity and talent.
“It’s cool to go to Dr. Halls concerts… it’s always unique. His repertoire is different than anything else being played at the college… or in most areas for that matter. He brings a certain amount of confidence and energy to the performance that keeps you engaged the entire time. It’s also really cool to see a professor in their natural element… It’s really special to witness the performer side because that is not something us students see more than a few times each year. As a saxophonist myself, it is especially cool because I have the opportunity to listen to a true professional perform in a way that inspires me to better my own playing. His concerts are not just an aural experience either. He is known to have visuals paired with the performance that allow the audience to enter a translucent mindset. You always leave feeling different than when you entered, and that is truly special,” said Olsen.
The recital will be on Friday, September 25th, at 8pm in Wallenberg hall. Cost of admission is free.