Kelly Hall-Tompkins
Kelly Hall-Tompkins | |
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![]() Hall-Tompkins, Stephen Benson, Joshua Camp, and Michael Blanco on stage together | |
Born | |
Education | Eastman School of Music Manhattan School of Music |
Occupation | Professional violinist |
Years active | 2008-present |
Organization | Music Kitchen - Food for the Soul |
Notable work | Played role of The Fiddler in the revival production of Fiddler on the Roof |
Awards | Naumburg International Violin Competition Honorarium Prize Concert Artists Guild Career Grant |
Website | www |
Kelly Hall-Tompkins is a professional violinist and the founder of Music Kitchen-Food for the Soul, a program that lifts the spirits of homeless New Yorkers through live classical music recitals.
Education
Hall-Tompkins attended Wade Hampton High School (Greenville, South Carolina) and the Fine Arts Center of Greenville, South Carolina, where she studied under the instruction of Lenny Schranze and Jon Grier.[7] She continued her studies at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.[7] She later completed her graduate degree at the Manhattan School of Music in New York, New York.[7] In May 2016, Tompkins received her Honorary Doctorate of Musical Arts from the Manhattan School of Music.[6]
Career
Performances and music career
Hall-Tompkins has performed at many venues with many different symphonies in her career as a violinist.
Projects
Music Kitchen-Food for the Soul
Hall-Tompkins founded Music Kitchen — Food for the Soul in 2005.[2][5][7][10] The program began in the basement of the men's shelter program located at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, where Kelly-Hall was a member. During her time attending the church she decided one night, rather than practicing with collogues, to play for the shelter members and was then asked to return again.[11] Music Kitchen is a program that lifts the spirits of homeless New Yorkers through live classical music recitals."[2][7][10] By 2020, Music Kitchen has performed in over 30,000 shelter clients and had brought top artists to perform in over 100 concerts in various homeless shelters throughout the United States and Paris, France.[5][6][11]
Forgotten voices
Forgotten Voices is a collection of sixteen songs that explores the human experience.[11][12] This project was initiated in 2019 in celebration of the fifteen years of success of Music Kitchen – Food for the Soul.[11] The song cycle premiered on March 31, 2022, in Zankel Hall, located at Carnegie Hall, with text collected from the general feedback of guest of the Music Kitchen performances.[11] The collected feedback was made into music by commissioned accomplished composers Courtney Bryan, Jon Jeffrey Grier, Kelly Hall-Tompkins, Beata Moon, James Lee III, Paul Moravec, Kevin Puts, Jeff Scott, Steve Sandberg, Kamala Sankaram, Carlos Simon, Angélica Negrón, Errollyn Wallen, Ellen Taaffee Zwilich, and Gabriel Kahane.[12][11] Other collaborators include vocal artists Allison Charney, Adrienne Danrich, Jesse Blumberg, and Mark Risinger in addition to instrumentalists Andrew Gonzalez, Alexis Pia Gerlach, Peter Seidenberg, and John-Paul Norpoth.[12][11]
Awards and features
Hall-Tompkins has won a Naumburg International Violin Competition Honorarium Prize as well as a Concert Artists Guild Career Grant.[1][5][3] She has also been featured in the Smithsonian Museum for African-American History.[5] The 50th anniversary Broadway Revival of Fiddler on the Roof, of which Hall-Tompkins was an integral part, received both Grammy and Tony nominations in 2016.[1][2][5][7] Music Kitchen’s short film “Face to Face: Forgotten Voices Heard” has been awarded at festivals such as Berlin Short Film, Berlin Indie, Cannes World, La Documentary, Stockholm Short, and Red Movie Awards.[12]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Kelly Hall-Tompkins - Cadenza Artists Instrumental Soloist - Violinist". Cadenza Artists. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Kelly Hall-Tompkins". Oakland Symphony. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
- ^ a b c "'Imagination' - an interview with Kelly Hall-Tompkins". Violinist.com. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Gervais, Gigi. "ArtsRock to Present MUSIC OF FIDDLER ON THE ROOF Concert This Fall". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "MusicalAmerica - Press Releases". www.musicalamerica.com. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
- ^ a b c d e f "Hall of Fame - Kelly Hall-Tompkins". www.greenville.k12.sc.us. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
- ^ a b "Live Music Returns to NYC Laden with Happiness and Tears". FF2 Media. 2021-10-26. Retrieved 2021-11-07.
- ^ "Who We Are". Gateways Music Festival. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
- ^ a b "Rochester Review :: University of Rochester". www.rochester.edu. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Forgotten Voices: Violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins on Fifteen Years of Nourishing Hope and Providing Food for the Soul via Music Kitchen". Classical Post. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
- ^ a b c d CHANNEL, THE VIOLIN (2023-03-15). "Violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins Presents "Forgotten Voices"". World's Leading Classical Music Platform. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
External links
- Kelly Hall-Tompkins at YouTube