Dawn Bonker
William Hall, D.M.A., dean and artistic director of the Center for the Arts at Chapman University, received the 2011 Howard Swan Award at the recent annual conference of the California Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association.
Since 1985,
ACDA
has recognized an outstanding choral director in California who has retired from full-time conducting. The prestigious lifetime achievement award given to this conductor is named in honor of Dr. Howard S. Swan, whose life spanned nearly the entire 20
th
century and who had far-reaching effects on the development of choral music.
Likewise, in his 45 years as director of choral activities at Chapman, Dr. Hall has had a profound impact on the choral art through his teaching and mentoring of thousands of young musicians, many of whom have gone on to lead their own respected choral programs at such institutions as California State University, Long Beach; University of Tennessee at Knoxville; Los Angeles Master Chorale; California State University, Northridge; and Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
Dr. Hall’s musical artistry was not limited to the classroom, however. His professional conducting career included collaborations with such prestigious organizations as the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Bella Lewitzky Dance Company, Boston Pops Orchestra and San Francisco Ballet, among many others. The William Hall Chorale was under contract to Columbia Artists Management for more than 30 years and sang throughout the United States and abroad.
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