Emily Hall

Emily Hall (born 30 March 1978) is a composer of classical music, electronica and songs. Her music has been performed by the Duke Quartet, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Brodsky Quartet, the London Sinfonietta, and the Philharmonia; it has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4 and France Culture. Roxanna Panufnik said of her in 2009 (and 21st century female classical composers in general): "Hip young things like Tansy Davies and Emily Hall will exert a great influence on the new music scene in the next ten years."

Biography
Hall read music at the University of York then studied orchestration with Yan Maresz in Paris. She studied with Julian Anderson for her master's degree in composition at the Royal College of Music. She is a founding member of c3, the Camberwell Composers Collective. Hall is a member of Bedroom Community, an Icelandic record label/collective. Her music is formed from close relationships with singers and writers and she seeks her own ways of using technology and live performance. Hall has received the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Artists (2013), the Genesis Opera Prize (2006) and the Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Award (2005).

The world premiere of her opera Sante took place on 24 May 2006, co-produced by Aldeburgh Productions and the London Sinfonietta, directed by Tim Supple. It utilised African melody and rhythm.

Her one-act opera Found and Lost premiered in January 2016 at the Corinthia Hotel in London.

Folie à Deux (2015) is a collaboration with Icelandic writer and long-time Björk collaborator Sjón. It is conceived both as a concept album and an opera and utilises a newly created instrument called the electro-magnetic harp which uses vibrating magnets.

Works
Hall works closely with singers, performers, and writers to create her music and uses both technology and live performance.

Vocal music

 * Befalling (song cycle): 20 minutes. Commissioned by Faster than Sound. First performance: Robert Murray and Malcom Martineau, June 2007, Aldeburgh Church
 * A Simple Neo-Georgian Summer setting of Toby Litt. Recorded by NMC
 * 5 new songs for Baritone: 20 minutes. First performance: Paul Carey Jones, September 2010, Grimsby St Hugh's Festival
 * Life Cycle (song cycle): 45 minutes. Commissioned by Opera North. First performance: Mara Carlyle, Oliver Coates and John Reid, March 2011, Southbank Centre
 * 3 new songs for Matt Sharp after Dichterliebe. First performance: Matthew Sharp, February 2012, Astor Theatre, Deal
 * Rest (song cycle): 45 minutes. First performance: Lady Maisery, June 2013, Hoxton Hall (Spitalfields Music Summer Festival)
 * The Bells of Aberdovey. Commissioned by the London Sinfonietta. First performance: London Sinfonietta, May 2015, Southbank Centre
 * We are passengers. Commissioned by Spitalfields Music. First performance: Women sing East, June 2015, Shoreditch Church (Spitalfields Music Summer Festival)
 * Veins (2020). Commissioned by BBC for the BBC Singers.

Opera

 * Sante: 70 minutes. First performance: Aldeburgh Productions/London Sinfonietta, May 2006, LSO St Luke's
 * The Nightingale and the Rose: 9 minutes. Commissioned by Streetwise Opera. First performance: December 2010, Shoreditch Church (Spitalfields Music Winter Festival)
 * Folie à Deux: 50 minutes. Commissioned by Mahogany Opera Group. First performance: March 2015, Bergen, Norway (Borealis Festival)
 * Found and Lost. Premiered in January and February 2016 at the Corinthia Hotel London, where Hall was artist in residence.
 * The Itch Witch: 10 minutes - written for children in 2016

String quartets

 * time back for time given: 5 minutes. First performance: Duke Quartet, June 2004, Cheltenham Music Festival
 * braid: 6 minutes. First performance: Brodsky Quartet, July 2007, Lichfield Cathedral (Lichfield Festival)
 * from listening to trees: 11 minutes. First performance: Barbirolli Quartet, October 2008, Haslemere

Orchestral

 * Plinth: 5.5 minutes. First performance: London Symphony Orchestra, November 2007, Barbican
 * Put Flesh On! (cello, electronics and orchestra): 12 minutes. First performance: London Contemporary Orchestra, Oliver Coates and Sound Intermedia, October 2008

Instrumental

 * Chatelet: 5 minutes. First performance: November 2003, Southbank Centre
 * no currency (piano): 6.5 minutes. First performance: Sarah Nichols, June 2006, Blue Elephant Theatre
 * Put Flesh On! (cello and electronics): 8 minutes. First performance: Oliver Coates, June 2008, Faster than Sound
 * Amnio (piano): 5 minutes. Commissioned by BBC Radio 3. First performance: Andrew Zolinsky, February 2009, BBC Radio 3
 * for zoe (cello): 5 minutes. First performance: Zoe Martlew, The Crypt Camberwell

Small chamber

 * join: (bassoon or cor anglais and piano or flute and harp): 6 minutes. First performance: c3, 2004
 * cry baby (2 electric guitars): 5 minutes. First performance: c3, November 2005
 * how we begin to remember (trumpet, accordion, double bass): 6 minutes. First performance: c3, November 2006
 * hotel twiga (percussion and accordion): 5 minutes. First performance: c3, November 2006
 * 26 horsepower (clarinet, viola, piano): 5 minutes. First performance: c3, November 2007

Large chamber

 * think about space: 5 minutes. First performance: London Sinfonietta, 2005
 * 26 Horsepower: 6.5 minutes. First performance: St Paul's Sinfonia, November, 2007

Recordings

 * Befalling (2013) — Nearfield Music
 * Folie à Deux (2015) — Bedroom Community
 * Acoustic Christmas Songs — My Only Wish This Year (2019)

Awards

 * Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Artists ― 2013
 * Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Award ― 2005