Kelly Hall-Tompkins is one of New York City's most in-demand violinists, whose dynamic career spans solo, chamber, and orchestral performance. Ms. Hall-Tompkins was winner of a 2003 Naumburg International Violin Competition Honorarium Prize as well as a Concert Artists Guild Career Grant in 1996, leading to numerous solo recitals in New York and the surrounding area. In the winter of 2007, Ms. Hall-Tompkins was invited by actress Mia Farrow and conductor George Matthew to be soloist in Carnegie Hall for a Benefit for the Victims of Darfur, hosted by Ms. Farrow. On stage behind her was an orchestra comprised of musicians from every major orchestra in the world to raise awareness and funds for the cause. Ms. Hall-Tompkins has been soloist with the Dallas Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of New York, Western Piedmont Symphony, Greenville Symphony, Philharmonic of Uruguay, Monmouth Symphony, the Gateways Festival Orchestra, the Festival of the Atlantic Orchestra, and the Atlanta University Orchestra and her performances in recital have been featured on several occasions on the McGraw-Hill Young Artist Showcase, broadcast in New York by WQXR. Her solo performances also include Washington, DC (National Academy of Sciences), Chicago (Dame Myra Hess Series, broadcast live by WFMT Radio), Baltimore (Peggy and Yale Gordon Trust); and, through a special grant from the IBM Corporation, at the Peace Center in Greenville, South Carolina. She commissioned a new work for violin and percussion from eminent German composer Siegfried Matthus, premiering the composition at the Pine Mountain Music Festival in Michigan in the summer of 2002. Also in 2002 Ms. Hall-Tompkins released her debut CD recording, funded by the Mellon Foundation, featuring the Kodaly duo, Brahms d minor Sonata and the Ravel Tzigane. Press reviews tout the disc with "…energy and versatility…" - Manhattan Times and "…her playing is precise and well measured, very clean and sweet…one cannot argue with the technical expertise or fluency expressed…" - NJ Star-Ledger. The Dallas Weekly describes her as "Phenomenal." Ms. Hall-Tompkins will release her second CD, entitled "In My Own Voice" in 2007.
Ms. Hall-Tompkins is a member of the Florida-based Ritz Chamber Players, including concerts in residence at Jacksonville's Times Union Center for the Performing Arts, New York at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Allen Room, Amelia Island and Madison Festivals and Baltimore in collaboration with BSO concertmaster and string principals. Live broadcasts include Chicago on WFMT's Jewel Box Series, New York and worldwide on New York City's WNYC and BBC, and historic Trinity Church at Wall Street. In addition, she founded the Aurélia Piano Trio (2002-2005) with cellist Eric Bartlett, of the New York Philharmonic and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and pianist Craig Ketter, prominent soloist and frequent recital collaborator. Ms. Hall-Tompkins has performed and studied at many of the major festivals in the U.S. and abroad, including Tanglewood, Aspen, the Quartet Program, the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau, France, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival in Germany, the Spoleto Festival in Italy, and the last New York String Orchestra Seminar under the direction of Alexander Schneider.
Ms. Hall-Tompkins' distinguished orchestral career has included extensive touring in the United States and internationally with the renowned Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, including performances in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Japan, Singapore, Scotland and a recording with countertenor Andreas Scholl. She has also performed over 150 performances as a substitute with the New York Philharmonic, under conductors including Kurt Masur, Leonard Slatkin, Andre Previn, Charles Dutoit and Valery Gergiev, stemming from her success as a finalist in auditions held by the orchestra in 1994. In Spring of 2007 Ms. Hall-Tompkins became the concertmaster of the Chamber Orchestra of New York which performed is debut concert in Carnegie's Zankel Hall in the Fall '07 with Ms. Hall-Tompkins also as soloist. In 1999 she won auditions held by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and was subsequently appointed to the orchestra's First Violin section.
Passionate chamber musician and humanitarian, in 2005 Ms. Hall-Tompkins founded and directs a charity series called Music Kitchen-Food for the Soul, bringing chamber music performances to NYC Homeless Shelters. She has presented over 25 concerts with over 30 artists including Emanuel Ax, Albrecht Mayer, Rene Marie and has been featured in Chamber Music America Magazine, Spirituality and Health Magazine, Columbia University Radio and cable's Hallmark Channel.
A native of Greenville, South Carolina, Ms. Hall-Tompkins began her violin studies at age nine. She earned a Master's degree from the Manhattan School of Music under the mentorship of Glenn Dicterow, concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic. While there, she was concertmaster of both of the school's orchestras. Prior to that, she earned a Bachelor of Music degree with honors in violin performance with a minor in French from the Eastman School of Music studying with Charles Castleman. While at Eastman she won the school's prestigious Performer's Certificate Competition, several scholarship awards from the New York Philharmonic, and was invited to perform chamber music on the school's Kilbourn Concert Series with members of the faculty. An avid polyglot, Ms. Hall-Tompkins studies and speaks seven languages in conjunction with her active international performance career. She lives in New York City with her husband Joe and their dog Billy.