Michael Hall

Michael Hall (26 March 1932 - 22 August 2012) was a violist, conductor, lecturer, broadcaster, musicologist, and writer. Michael, born Richard Michael Hall in Whitley Bay, went to Dame Allan's school, Newcastle upon Tyne, and in 1948, as a violist, was one of the founder members of the National Youth Orchestra. He won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London, and after national service in the RAF, where he had his first experience of conducting as a bandmaster, he went to Durham University and took a degree in music (1958). In 1958 he founded the Northern Sinfonia, now Royal Northern Sinfonia, in Newcastle upon Tyne. This was the first permanent professional chamber orchestra in Britain outside London. With Hall as conductor, the orchestra toured the region giving regular concerts, and in Newcastle, established a Connoisseur's Series, concentrating on 20th-century and new music. After leaving the orchestra and a spell of freelance conducting, he joined the Gramophone Department of the BBC's Third Programme as a producer in 1965. During his time as a producer, he encouraged upcoming contemporary composers whose work he featured in a series called Music in our Time,. He also worked alongside Roy Plomley as a producer on Desert Island Discs.