About Rachel

Rachel Lee Hall is a harpist with a passion to share her music with new audiences
and make the harp repertoire even more well-loved.

Biography

A winner of Astral's 2017 National Auditions, Rachel Lee Hall has appeared at the Kimmel Center, Severance Hall, and Lyon & Healy Hall. She is also the winner of the 2013 Lyon & Healy Award, and was awarded top prizes from such competitions as the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) Concerto Competition, the Saratoga Harp Colony "Play with the Pros" Competition, and the James Bland Music Contest of the Lions Club. She is also the recipient of the Anne Jett Rogers Award and the Alice Chalifoux Award, and was the 2015 CIM Presser Scholar.

Ms. Hall has performed as orchestral harpist with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Akron Symphony Orchestra, the Firelands Symphony Orchestra, and the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, and has been a fellow with the National Repertory Orchestra. She has appeared as soloist with members of The Philadelphia Orchestra, the National Repertory Orchestra, and the Cleveland Institute of Music Symphony Orchestra.

Passionate about advocating for and introducing the harp and classical music to new audiences, Ms. Hall regularly performs in non-traditional spaces such as schools, nursing homes, private homes, marketplaces, and mountain overlooks. Ms. Hall teaches on faculty at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia. She also maintains a private studio as a Roanoke harp teacher and is an instructor of Eurhythmics, an approach to rhythm through movement.

Ms. Hall received both a Bachelor and a Master of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied harp performance under the tutelage of Yolanda Kondonassis.

Repertoire

Works With Orchestra

  • Boieldieu: Harp Concerto in C Major, Op. 77
  • Ginastera: Concerto for Harp and Orchestra, Op. 25
  • Debussy: Danses sacrée et profane (string orchestra)
  • Handel: Concerto in B-flat Major, Op. 4, No. 6
  • Mozart: Concerto for Flute and Harp in C Major, K. 297
  • Ravel: Introduction et Allegro (Harp, String Orchestra, Flute, Clarinet)
  • Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez

Suggested Pairings

  • Debussy: Danses sacrée et profane | Ravel: Introduction and Allegro
  • Debussy: Danses sacrée et profane | Handel: Concerto in Bb Major
  • Ravel: Introduction and Allegro | Boieldieu: Concerto in C Major
  • Ginastera: Harp Concerto | Debussy: Danses sacrée et profane
  • Ginastera: Harp Concerto | Ravel: Introduction and Allegro
  • Ginastera: Harp Concerto | Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
  • Mozart: Concerto for Flute & Harp | Debussy: Danses sacrée et profane
  • Mozart: Concerto for Flute & Harp | Ravel: Introduction and Allegro

Debussy: Danses sacrée et profane
Ravel: Introduction and Allegro

Debussy: Danses sacrée et profane
Handel: Concerto in Bb Major

Ravel: Introduction and Allegro
Boieldieu: Concerto in C Major

Ginastera: Harp Concerto
Debussy: Danses sacrée et profane

Ginastera: Harp Concerto
Ravel: Introduction and Allegro

Ginastera: Harp Concerto
Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez

Mozart: Concerto for Flute & Harp
Debussy: Danses sacrée et profane

Mozart: Concerto for Flute & Harp
Ravel: Introduction and Allegro

Recital Programs

Combining her expertise in music theory, music history, and the harp, Rachel presents some of the finest gems in the harp repertoire...

...along with anecdotes and personal accounts relating to the works she performs.

Sample Programs

Joys Inspire

An entertaining argument for the power of music

  • Scarlatti: Sonata in A Major, K 27
  • Handel: Concerto in Bb Major, Op. 4 no. 6
  • Tournier: Sonatine, Op. 30
  • Lash: Stalk
  • Grandjany: Rhapsodie pour la harpe, Op. 10

Conversations in Folklore

The influence of folk music in the classical repertoire

  • Dussek: Lass of Richmond Hill Sonata
  • Kondonassis: Small River Flowing
  • Salzedo: Variations on a Theme in an Ancient Style
  • Renie: Legende
  • Liszt: Le rossignol (trans. Renie)
  • Posse: Carnival of Venice

Scintillating Rhythms

A look at the rhythmic influence of dance music from around the world

  • Bach: Suite for Lute in E minor, BWV 996
  • Rota: Sarabanda e Toccata
  • Salzedo: Tango, Sicilienne & Rumba
  • Damase: Sicilienne Variee
  • Puccini: Musetta’s Waltz (from La Boheme)
  • Salzedo: Scintillation