The remarkable Amalia Hall: star soloist, concertmaster and chamber musician

Photo supplied: NZSO

Amalia Hall is one of New Zealand’s finest violinists, and also one of the busiest professional musicians in the country. A virtuosic and engaging performer, she’s currently on tour with NZTrio, and  also preparing to perform Bartók’s 2nd Violin Concerto with the NZSO, one of several concertos Hall is playing in New Zealand and internationally this year.

In her teens, Hall won every major classical music award in New Zealand and has since garnered international prizes at the Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition in Hannover, the International Violin Competition ‘Premio R. Lipizer’, the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, and the Kloster Schöntal International Violin Competition. She’s also won top prizes at the Tunbridge Wells, Jeunesses Dinu Lipatti, Leos Janacek, Postacchini, and Gisborne International Competitions.

Hall left New Zealand aged just 19 for post-graduate study at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Pennsylvania, and, since her return, has played the roles of soloist, orchestral concertmaster and chamber musician in New Zealand and internationally.

2025 began for Hall with three performances of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in different Mexican centres. Later this year she’ll take it to Argentina for a concert in the beautiful Teatro Cólon in Buenos Aires, under the baton of James Judd. Before that, she’ll make her Brazilian debut with Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with the Orquestra Sinfônica de Porto Alegre.

After her performance of that popular Mendelssohn Concerto with Orchestra Wellington a month ago, the ovation was warm and prolonged. Both Orchestra Wellington’s loyal audience and the musicians on stage applauded her lovely, lyrical playing and the dazzling facility she combined with little touches of whimsy in the rapid finale. It was as if everyone in the hall embraced her with a delighted hug.

Amalia Hall in Macao with conductor Lio Kuokman

Photo supplied

That appreciative reception for her concerto playing also acknowledged Hall’s role as the much-loved Concertmaster of Orchestra Wellington, a position she won in 2016 while still in her twenties, the youngest concertmaster in New Zealand. And she’s now in demand as concertmaster internationally as well – when we talked recently, Hall was just back from Macao, where as guest concertmaster she led the Orquestre de Macau in the Macanese premiere of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.

Last year, in what she describes as a "life highlight", Hall led the famous Orchestre de la Suisse Romande for three concerts in Switzerland, with piano legend Martha Argerich as soloist in Shostakovich’s Concerto in C minor for Piano, Trumpet, and String Orchestra, Op. 35.

Amalia Hall with piano legend Martha Argerich in Geneva, Switzerland

“…a life highlight!”

Photo supplied.

Hall is clearly at home in the concertmaster’s chair. What does she enjoy about stepping forward into the role of concerto soloist?

“I love the freedom of standing on the stage and being me, sharing my individual voice,” Hall says. “But it’s also playing a kind of chamber music with the orchestra, on a grand scale. It’s an exciting energy on stage, with so many musicians playing together.”

This month, Hall will share stages in Wellington and Christchurch with the NZSO, under visiting conductor Gábor Káli, as violin soloist for the Bartók concerto. In 2018, she played the demanding three-movement work with Orchestra Wellington. Has her conception of it changed?

“I will be approaching it differently, because of everything I’ve experienced and learned over the past seven years,” Hall says.  “It’s important to re-evaluate, coming back to a piece. And it’s exciting to approach it with fresh eyes.”

She’s very enthusiastic, too, about playing it with a Hungarian conductor. “I worked with Gábor in Macao last year and he’s phenomenal – I’m very keen to hear his thoughts and suggestions.”

Gábor Káli will conduct the NZSO in the programme ‘Echoes of Home’

Amalia Hall will be soloist in Bartók’s 2nd Violin Concerto in the concert, and describes Káli as “phenomenal”.

Photo supplied: NZSO

Budapest-based Káli has already sent her a copy of the solo violin part from a Bartók archive, with annotations by Zoltán Székely, the Hungarian composer/violinist who requested the work, spent time with Bartók on its composition and gave the premiere performance in 1939 with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam.

Alongside her orchestral work as soloist and concertmaster, this remarkable young violinist is playing a growing range of roles as a chamber musician. “I can never get enough chamber music,” Hall told me in 2018. “I’m the youngest of four children and played with my family quartet from the age of eight.”

Amalia Hall (front right) with her siblings in the family string quartet

“…I can never get enough chamber music.”

In 2019, Hall joined the NZTrio, a piano trio founded in 2002 that has, throughout its life, built a strong reputation for dynamic performances and adventurous programming. Now the Trio is at another turning point, with the departure of its remaining founder member, cellist Ashley Brown, and the appointment of acclaimed young New Zealand cellist Matthias Balzat.

Hall pays tribute to Brown, who has, she says, made a huge contribution to the Trio. “Now, it’s new horizons for the group. But the values of NZTrio remain the same; it’s just different musical personalities. Audiences in New Zealand know what to expect from the Trio – which means they don’t know what to expect; we like to find new repertoire that might challenge them and take them out of their comfort zone.”

NZTrio are currently touring with Balzat, their newest member, with a typically brilliant programme mix of familiar composers and exciting new works. (See below for a link to my review of that ‘Magnifique’ programme.) Hall agrees there’s a lot of satisfaction in introducing audiences to more recent music. “It means we’re on the front of our seats when we’re playing – there’s no sitting back. Contemporary repertoire often has difficult rhythmic elements and extended techniques.”

NZTrio has premiered a huge number of works by New Zealand composers and gained remarkable trust from audiences in the process. “Being able to work with composers directly is really wonderful,” says Hall. “It means there’s a direct line from composer to musician to audience. People can come to a premiere with a sense of wonder, and we want that magic happening in our concerts.”  

Hall has expanded her chamber music activities recently as Co-Artistic Director, with oboist Tania Frazer, of the new annual Waiheke Chamber Music Festival. The boutique festival held its second weekend event on Waiheke Island earlier this year, at the gallery of abstract artist Gabriella Lewenz.

The location on Waiheke, and the venue itself, are part of the charm of the festival, Hall says. “It’s like being in Tuscany! It’s up on the hill and when you come down the driveway, you see an amazing Tuscan-looking villa, created by Gabriella and her husband, and wonder if you’re still in New Zealand,” she says. “We can fit just 70 or 80 people inside, so it’s quite an intimate audience experience, surrounded by beautiful stained-glass windows, with a lovely courtyard so audiences can wander into the garden at the interval. It’s a triple whammy – beautiful music, beautiful setting and lovely Waiheke attractions, including the wine.”

Hall and Frazer are considering some expansion of their Festival, perhaps involving the local community or schools, or adding different venues and curating programmes to suit the spaces. Meanwhile, Hall, who once described herself as “hungry for a bit of everything”, has another project bubbling away.

Earlier this year, Hall and violinist Peter Clark of the New Zealand String Quartet announced plans for a New Zealand chamber orchestra. Some of us remember an earlier iteration of an NZCO, founded in 1987 by violinist Stephen Managh, and later renamed the NZSO Chamber Orchestra. It performed and toured for 13 years.

Hall and Clark’s proposal will bring together top musicians from New Zealand orchestras and chamber ensembles and is at the “watch this space” stage. “It will be project-based, once or twice a year,” Hall tells me. “And already there’s a buzz about it; conversations with musicians are happening, which is very exciting. The actual name is not settled, but its special niche is waiting.”

How does Hall keep so many musical balls in the air and look after her health? “I really thrive on doing all these different things, and I don’t get stressed out,” she tells me, laughing. “Efficiency – as well as creativity – in my practice is really important; I focus on what needs attention so I can be ready for my engagements. Sometimes, my schedule is a little bit crazy, but I try to stay relaxed. And I love running and want to have a more regular exercise regime – that’s at the front of my agenda for this year.” 

NZSO ‘Echoes of Home’ Music by Lilburn, Bartók and Dvořák with Gabor Káli (conductor) and Amalia Hall (violin) Wellington May 23, Christchurch May 25, 2025.  More information and bookings here.

NZTrio ‘Magnifique’ Amalia Hall (violin), Matthias Balzat (cello), Somi Kim (piano) Cambridge, NZ May 14, Rotorua May 15, 2025. Read Five Lines review here.

Orchestra Wellington ‘Favoured Son’ Music by Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and Shostakovich with Marc Taddei (conductor), Amalia Hall (concertmaster) Jian Liu (pianist) Wellington June 7, 2025. More information and bookings here.