Bio

Saxophonist, composer and improvisor RANDALL HALL moves at the sonic limits of the instrument to delve into the mythic, the esoteric, and the apophatic. As a leading interpreter of contemporary music for saxophone, his performances of new compositions and improvisations feature his mastery of extended techniques and cutting-edge electronics. Innova Recordings describes his music as “high-octane, supercharged sax” while The Wire says he plays with “utter confidence,” “fire and teeth,” and “unexpectedly tough beauty.” 

He is internationally active as a performer and clinician, and has given concerts throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, including concerts at the Karnatic Lab (Amsterdam), Logos Foundation (Belgium), Hundred Years Gallery (London), Werstatt für improvisierte Musik (Zürich), Yantai Music Festival (China), Zeitgeist Gallery (Boston), Center for New Music (Iowa City), Electronic Music Midwest (Chicago), Outside the Box Festival (Carbondale), the Image-Movement-Sound Festival (Rochester), the Weirdtown Music Festival (Rock Island) and the Electro Acoustic Juke Joint (Mississippi). He has given lectures and master-classes on the aesthetics and techniques of new music at institutions around the world, including Harvard University, Cornell University, the Eastman School of Music, New England Conservatory, Bowling Green State University, University of Illinois, University of Iowa, the Luxembourg Conservatory, Concervatorio Superior de Música de las Islas Baleares, the Trans- States Conference (UK), Christ Church University Canterbury, and the World Saxophone Congress. Dedicated to the continued development of new music, Randall Hall collaborates closely with composers and has premiered pieces by James R. Carlson, Joann Cho, Stuart Duncan, Kevin Ernste, Figure, Stephen Gorbos, Jeff Herriot, Jing-Jing Luo, Colin J. P. Homiski, Jonathon Kirk, Christian Lauba, Nicolas Scherzinger, Mary Stiles, and Paul Swenson.  Hall’s own compositions have been performed at venues including the INVIDEO Festival (Milan and Stuttgart), Not Still Art Festival (New York), Light Cone Show (Paris), Particles and Pixels Symposium (New Zealand), Cincinnati International Film Festival, and the New Hampshire Film Expo. He has recorded on Innova and Medusa Critical Recordings.  
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Randall Hall is the recipient of numerous honors including a Fulbright Grant, Frank Huntington Beebe Grant, Presser Music Award, first prize in the Concour Région Ile-de-France, and was a semifinalist in the first Jean-Marie Londeix International Competition. He studied saxophone with Claude Delangle, Jean-Yves Fourmeau, Jean-Michel Goury, Kenneth Radnofsky, and Ramon Ricker. Dr. Hall holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music (DMA), the New England Conservatory (MM), the Conservatoire National de Région de Boulogne-Billancourt, France (Premier prix), and Warner Pacific College (BS). He is Professor of Music at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, where he teaches saxophone, improvisation, music history, and liberal studies. Hall is an endorsing artist for Selmer Paris saxophones and is the founder and Artistic Director of the Shockingly Modern Saxophone Festival.