International Guitar Research Archives

Nicola Hall

At just 25 years old, Nicola Hall has already established herself as one of the most exceptional musical talents of her generation. A student at Chethams School of Music and later at the Royal Northern College of Music, she now studies with John Williams. She was a top prize-winner at the Polish International Competition on 1986 and at the Toronto Competition in 1987. Hall was also the recipient of the Royal Overseas League's Gold Medal in 1989, the first guitarist to win this award in the competition's history.

A busy performer within the United Kingdom, Nicola Hall has given concerts at the Malvern and Newbury Festivals, at the Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music and at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. She gave a recital at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam in 1990, appeared on Dutch television and performed for the Segovia Society in Madrid in 1991. She has also performed in Canada.

Hall made her Italian recital debut in Milan in May 1992. Also in that month, she made a tour of Japan which prompted immediate re-engagement for 1994. In February 1993 she made her debut at Wigmore Hall in London to great critical acclaim. She performed at the Newbury Festival in May 1993, and then in July appeared at the Harrogate Festival and gave two recitals at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival in Germany. In 1994 she appeared in concerts with the London Mozart Players and the Royal Scottish Orchestra and toured both the United States and the Far East. She also gave a world premiere of a guitar concerto by Michael Torke. Future plans include an appearance on the BBC 2 Television program Soundbites, a 'live' recital for BBC Radio 3, a recital for the Istanbul Festival, a further appearance at Wigmore Hall and concerts with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
Nicola Hall's desire to extend the repertoire for the guitar has led to a number of transcriptions which form a regular part of her concert programs. Her repertoire also includes many contemporary compositions, including works by Britten, Tippett and, most notably, Stephen Dodgson's Partita No. 4, written for Ms. Hall and premiered by her at the Cheltenham International Festival in 1990.

Nicola Hall records exclusively for Decca International. Her first recital disc, Virtuoso Guitar Transcriptions, was released in December 1991 to great critical acclaim. A recording of concerti by Tedesco, Pagannini and Sarasate with Andrew Litton and the London Mozart Players and a second recital disc were released in 1994.