Ladies and gentlemen, there’s a new face in town — both Lawton Hall and his splendid facial hair have made their debut in the composition and horn studios this year at Lawrence.
A transfer student from St. Louis, Hall is certainly quite an asset to both of these studios, playing in the LSO and composing some sweet pieces for upcoming recitals.
Although he may have begun his musical career with the trumpet in fifth grade, our young hero soon realized his enormous mistake and switched to a better brass instrument, the horn.
His career as a horn player continued through high school as he studied with Tod Bowermaster of the St. Louis Symphony and participated in various youth orchestras.
As for Hall’s beginnings in composition, he says “I have always liked figuring out how things work and making new things work, so figuring out how sounds work together and making them work in new ways is exciting for me. I’m also a bit of a control freak, so I suppose it was natural.”
Control freak or not, here at Lawrence, Hall has been able to combine his horn-playing abilities with his compositional prowess in order to create the piece he is currently working on, a horn quartet, which he has found to be both a challenging and rewarding experience.
He is also working to organize performances in both Madison and Appleton of one of his compositions, a clarinet and marimba duet written last spring.
Hall will also be featured in the composition studio’s March 2 recital given in honor of late professor Jennifer Fitzgerald.
Said Hall, “In addition to many of her wonderful pieces, the concert will also feature works by her students. I encourage people to come, because it will be exciting to hear the sorts of sounds and ideas being created right here in Appleton.
Artist Spotlight: Lawton Hall
