Mike Hall has been an active member of the Cedar Rapids, Iowa musical community since 1992. He received a Bachelor of Music degree in violin from the University of Iowa as a Fairall scholarship student, and a Master of Music degree in Violin Performance and Suzuki Pedagogy from the Cleveland Institute of Music. His principal teachers have been Linda Cerone, Allen Ohmes, and Eugene Gratovich. Additional study has been with David Russell and Dorothy Mauney. He has studied viola with William Preucil and Veronica Salas. He has coached chamber music, with Alan Harris, the Stradivari Quartet, and various others. He is an alumnus of the Encore School for Strings and the Meadowmount School. Additional summer study has included festivals at Alfred University, Eisenstadt, Austria, the International Institute of Music in Bolzano, Italy, and with the Esterhazy Quartet.
Mike received long term Suzuki teacher training with Michele George. He has taken additional coursework with Doris Preucil, Sonja Zeithamel, Alice Joy Lewis, Barbara Barber, Eleonor Allen, and Carrie Reuning. Mike was able to participate in special teacher workshops with Dr. Shinichi Suzuki during some of his last visits to the US. |
Mike has been on the faculty of Orchestra Iowa School since 1992 where he currently teaches Suzuki and traditional violin and viola lessons and heads the violin group classes. As an active instructor in Orchestra Iowa School's String Outreach Programs he has introduced thousands of elementary school students in Cedar Rapids to the violin. He taught previously in the Cleveland Institute of Music Preparatory program, the Toledo (OH) Suzuki Institute, in programs in Des Moines, and at the Preucil School. As a member of the violin section of Orchestra Iowa he filled in for 1 1/2 seasons as acting associate concertmaster and in the former Cedar Rapids Symphony string quartet. He was a member of the Paramount String Quartet and various other ensembles and is a frequent chamber music violist. From 1992-2002 he played with the trio Christy and the New Creation, presenting concert programs throughout Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Colorado. Mike was a finalist in the Christian Artists Competition at Estes Park, CO sponsored by the Gospel Music Association of America (GMA) in solo instrumental and group instrumental categories. Before joining Orchestra Iowa he played with the National Repertory Orchestra, the Des Moines Symphony, the Quad Cities Symphony, and the Toledo (OH) Symphony. He plays frequently with his wife Diane, also a violinist.
Additional information about Mike can be found at www.mikehallviolin.com.
Additional information about Mike can be found at www.mikehallviolin.com.