About Us

Our Mission:

Hall Ensemble strives to bring engaging in-home chamber music concerts of the highest quality to North Texas and inspiring, relevant music education programs to both children and adults.

By emphasizing social relationships between musician and listener the Ensemble encourages audience members to love, understand and patronize classical music.

Chamber music, once described as "the music of friends," was originally intended to be performed in people's homes.

The Hall Ensemble is excited to revive this tradition by presenting in-home chamber music concerts!

Formed in 2008, the members of the Hall Ensemble earned rave reviews for their debut performances and realized that the joy and satisfaction of performing together had to be sustained. As members of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, they appreciate the intimacy of chamber music and have enjoyed interacting with their audiences both young and old.

Click here to see our Performance Archive.

Karen Hall, cello & Managing director

Karen was raised in Nebraska, and joined the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in 1979. Karen has also held positions with the Memphis Symphony and the Dallas Opera Orchestra. An ardent proponent of historic performance practice, she plays the Baroque cello and viola da gamba. Karen's work in the Fort Worth Symphony earned her the American Airlines Distinguished Musician of the Year award in 2004. In addition to her work as a cellist, she has been a popular narrator and lecturer for the Symphony. She makes custom jewelry under the name Essential Graces and enjoys traveling, with and without her cello.

As with many musicians, success can be elusive and Karen spent many years supplementing her performing and teaching income with a variety of jobs. Waitressing, McDonald's, a French bakery, working with data entry for the TCU music library and positions as head librarian of both the Fort Worth and Memphis symphonies have provided Karen with a wide range of business experience which she brings to Hall Ensemble as Managing Director. Exciting performances rest on a framework of good planning!

HALL Ensemble BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Barbara J. Moore

Julie Knox Battle

Susan Elizabeth Nus

Coy Fagras

Laura Hall-Olsen

Daniel Sigale, viola

Dan, a native of the Chicago area, has played viola with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra since 1998. He received his Bachelor of Music degree from DePaul University, a Masters of Music from Northwestern University, and a Master's of Music from the University of Notre Dame. Prior to moving to Texas, he played with the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra. Dan has been an amateur classical music radio announcer and an award winning line dance choreographer, instructor, and competitor.

Kevin Hall, basson

Kevin has been the principal bassoonist of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra since 1977. He performs with period instrument ensembles across Texas and has been listed as one of the country's top baroque bassoonists in Early Music America. He received his Bachelor and Master's of Music Performance degrees from the University of Illinois. Kevin is an avid hunter and target shooter, woodturner, stained glass artist, and is learning to make Baroque woodwind instruments. Now in its second edition, he has published a collection of Bach Cantata movements for Baroque bassoon.

Pei-Ju Wu, violin

Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Pei-Ju is the newest member of the Hall Ensemble and co-founder and violinist of the Quartus Chamber Players in Houston. Pei-Ju received degrees from Boston University and Rice University, and quickly established herself upon graduation both as an orchestra and chamber musician playing with the Houston Grand Opera, San Antonio Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, New World Symphony, and the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra. Her teachers include Kathleen Winkler, Roman Totenberg, and Shirley Givens. Recently as a freelance musician, Pei-Ju has toured with the Star Wars in Concert orchestra and performed with Peter Gabriel's New Blood North America tour. She is currently an adjunct instructor at the Texas Wesleyan University.

Curt Thompson, violin

Violinist Curt Thompson is quickly gaining recognition as a performing artist through concerts given in the United States and abroad, and has given recitals throughout Europe, Central America,, South America and Australia. Thompson's musical experiences have been diverse. A strong proponent of chamber music, he is Founder and Artistic Director of the Mimir Chamber Music Festival. He has maintained a violin studio at the Indiana University School of Music where he was invited as Guest Artist/Lecturer and has given master classes at leading music schools including Indiana, the Bulgarian State Academy of Music (Sofia), and the Royal Academy of Music (London). As an orchestral musician, he has served as Concertmaster of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (by special invitation), the Spoleto (Italy) Festival Orchestra, the San Angelo Symphony Orchestra, and the Texas Chamber Orchestra.>

Joe Illick, piano

Joe Illick is the Music Director of Fort Worth Opera, a post he has held since 2002. He is also the Executive and Artistic Director of the Santa Fe Concert Association. He previously served as Music Director of Greater Miami Opera, Lake George Opera Festival, Shreveport Opera and Teatro Lirico d'Europa. The Santa Fe resident maintains an international conducting career with appearances with the Covent Garden Ensemble, the Vienna Chamber Opera, Stadttheater Aachen, and closer to home at the Opera Theater of St. Louis, Lyric Opera of Kansas City and the Miami and Santa Fe symphonies.

His symphonic compositions have been performed in New York, Washington and Santa Fe and his monodrama Emma was performed on public television. Joseph Illick is also an active chamber music pianist with engagements in the United States and abroad.

MARK HOUGHTON, HORN

Mark Houghton has performed as principal horn of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra since 2005. Previously, he was principal horn of the Harrisburg and Phoenix symphony orchestras. Dallas Morning News critic Scott Cantrell has written of Mr. Houghton, “He had a tone of burnished elegance and amazing expressive range, and he delivered some protracted decrescendos that took the breath away.

The son of professional hornists, Mark was raised in Keller, TX. He earned a bachelor's degree from the Eastman School of Music, studying horn with internationally acclaimed professor Peter Kurau.

Mr. Houghton has performed with the Eastman Virtuosi, the Orion Septet, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, toured nationally with the Eastman Wind Ensemble, and abroad with the Eastman Horn Choir and the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra. He has performed as a soloist with the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, The Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra, The Phoenix Symphony, and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. He was a prizewinner in the American Horn Competition and the International Horn Society's John Hawkins Memorial Solo Competition. In addition, Mr. Houghton has been a performer and/or guest clinician at Arizona State University, The University of Arizona, Baylor University, Texas Christian University, The University of Oklahoma, Texas Music Educators' Association Convention, Texas Tech University and Wichita State University.