Barry Hall

Barry Hall plays a variety of instruments including violin, medieval vielle, electric violin, bass, didjeridu and percussion, and is active in many types of music including medieval, Celtic, jazz, new music and electronic. His performances throughout North America and Europe have ranged from an exhibition of historical English folk music at the Smithsonian Institution to a contemporary electric violin concerto with interactive electronics performed at the World Music Days in Mexico City. He studied composition with Eliot Newsome at Westminster College, where he earned a BS in Mathematics and Computer Science (Magna Cum Laude) in 1985. In conjunction with Dr. Daniel Oppenheim at Stanford University's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), and the IBM music research center, Barry has worked extensively in the development of interactive musical software that interacts with a solo performer in an improvisational manner. He collects and builds musical instruments, specialising in building unusual ceramic musical instruments and performing on them with his group The Burnt Earth Ensemble.