Daniel was born in Stockton-on-Tees in 1996 and moved to Foxhole, Cornwall, in 2001 and then to Bugle two years later. He said, “Every year on the weekend of my sister’s birthday, the West of England Bandsmen Festival took place and the winners played in the square in front of our house [the house with the huge contest banner]”.
At the age of ten he began cornet lessons with Anna Minear at Bugle primary school and was invited to attend their training band conducted by David Mumford.
In 2009 he joined St Austell Youth Band and a year later he was playing third cornet in the senior band. Daniel takes up the story, “My first contest with St Austell Town Band was at the Cornwall Open Entertainment contest at the Hall for Cornwall on the 10th April 2010 where we were placed second with Gareth Pritchard conducting. My first West of England Regional Contest was in 2011 when we played Paganini Variations, again conducted by Gareth Pritchard. Aaron Harvey was the resident conductor of St Austell Town Band and was a huge inspiration for me. He taught me the basics of conducting and in 2014 asked me to conduct a concert of my own music at Truro College with St Austell Town Band, I was then seventeen.”
“I was a member of the Cornwall Youth Brass Band from 2010 and a full-time player for St Austell Town band up until I left to study at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama (RWCMD). My last competition with St Austell was the First Section National Finals in Cheltenham where I was second man down to Hannah Hawken.”
Whilst studying at Truro College and the South West Music School, Daniel had weekly theory and composition lessons with Denzil Stephens.
Apart from being a full-time member of St Austell Training, Youth and Town Bands, Daniel has deputised for the following Cornish bands:
St Dennis Silver Band (Senior Trophy Contest, Summer Concerts and Carnivals)
Mount Charles Brass Band (Minack Theatre Christmas Concerts)
Mount Charles Youth Band
Roche Brass (Summer Concerts)
Bugle Silver Band (Rehearsals)
Lostwithiel Silver Band (Rehearsals & Concerts)
St Pinnock Brass Band (Carnivals)
Daniel Hall marching with St Austell Town Band at the West of England Bandsmen Festival
Daniel Hall is a multi-award winning composer, arranger and conductor whose works have been performed by some of the country’s leading ensembles, including the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Eminence Brass Quartet, A4 Brass Quartet, Tredegar Town Band and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.
He has worked with international soloists and ensembles such as Lode Violet & Brass Band Willebroek (BEL), Brass Band Öberösterreich (AUT), Fabian Bloch & Duo Giovio (CHE) the European Youth Brass Band, The Atlantic Brass Band (USA) as well as many more.
Awards include winning the 7th European Composers Competition in Montreux, Switzerland 2019 with A Dialogue of Transmogrifed Souls (2019). Winning the 3rd John Golland Award, leading to a commission – Sanctuary! (2017) used as the set test at the 2019 European Youth Brass Band contest. PRS & Arts Council England funded award for 886 (2015) Colours, as well as receiving an award from the Welsh Music Guild 2019 for his orchestral work QuickDraw (2018).
Daniel is also a freelance conductor & trumpet player, founding the Cardiff based Hybrid Orchestra ‘Prestige 6 Orchestra’ and performing with various ensembles such as Netfix’s Sex Education swing band, Year of the Dog. Daniel graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in 2019 with a first-class honours in composition, studying with Mark Boden & Odilon Marcenaro.
A list of Daniel’s works can be found here: https://www.danielhall.uk/works