Halls, David

David Halls was born in 1963, David Halls was taught the piano from the age of four. Whilst a pupil at Harrogate Grammar School, he was Assistant Organist at St. Wilfrid’s, Harrogate, studied the organ with Adrian Selway at St Peter’s Church, Harrogate, Ronald Perrin at Ripon Cathedral and later with Thomas Trotter in London.

David won an Organ Scholarship to Worcester College, Oxford and graduated in 1984 with an Honours Degree in Music. He passed both the Associate and Fellowship Examinations of The Royal College of Organists in the same year, being awarded five prizes and the Silver Medal from the Worshipful Company of Musicians. He studied in Winchester for a post-graduate Certificate in Education and was Organ Scholar of Winchester Cathedral under the guidance of Martin Neary and James Lancelot. He was appointed Director of Music at Salisbury Cathedral in September 2005.

In addition to his daily duties in the cathedral, he has toured Austria, Estonia, France, Holland, Italy, Latvia, Sweden and the USA with the cathedral choirs and has appeared as conductor, accompanist and soloist in many concerts and recordings. In demand as a recitalist in cathedrals and churches throughout the UK, he has recorded three solo CDs on the Willis Organ in Salisbury Cathedral and his latest recording of organ music from St Wilfrid’s Church, Harrogate, was released in early 2015. His organ DVD and CD ‘The Grand Organ of Salisbury Cathedral’ was released in Summer 2012. He is active as a composer with many choral and organ works published in the UK and USA.

He is a member of the Salisbury Diocesan Choral Festival Group, regularly conducting Diocesan Choir Festivals and he is an Organ Consultant to the Diocese of Salisbury. He conducts the Salisbury Musical Society and the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra and recent work has included Bach’s “St John Passion” and “Mass in B Minor,” Berlioz’s “Requiem,” Elgar’s “Light of Life,” Schubert’s “Symphony No. 9,” Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” Poulenc’s “Gloria” and Britten’s “Spring Symphony.”

Click on the video to watch our Sheet Music Talkback with David Halls

Meet David Halls in person…