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The American pianist, organist and conductor, Malcol Halliday, studied at Ballard High School in Louisville, Kentucky (Class of 1974 ). He obtained his Bachelot of Arts degree in Piano Performance from Oberlin Conservatory (1975-1979); and his Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from Boston University (1979- 1981). His principal piano teachers include Paul Badura-Skoda, Henrica Bordwin, Miles Mauney, and Bela Nagy. He studied vocal accompanying with Allen Rogers, and received several Fellowships in Vocal Coaching to the Tanglewood and Blossom Music Festivals.
As a pianist, Malcolm Halliday has performed in the USA, Europe and Mexico, both as a soloist and in collaboration with singers, instrumentalists and orchestra. A champion of more recent and contemporary music, He can be heard as pianist on two recordings of the music of the American composer Leo Sowerby: a solo album entitled "Impressions", and songs with bass-baritone Robert Osborne in a collaborative album entitled "My Love Unspoken", both CDs released through Albany Records.
Malcolm Halliday has performed on numerous occasions with historical pianos from the E. Michael Frederick Collection, using period instruments in concerts at Jordan Hall and Faneuil Hall in Boston, Mechanics Hall in Worcester, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and other locations throughout New England. With bass-baritone Robert Osborne, he has recorded Schubert’s Winterreise using an original fortepiano, c1828 crafted by Viennese builder Conrad Graf. Former resident pianist for the American Schubert Institute in Boston, He is currently pianist with mezzo-soprano D'Anna Fortunato and clarinetist Chester Brezniak in the Blackstone Trio. He is also pianist with tenor Stanley Wilson in a just-released CD featuring music of English composers Frank Bridge, Edward Elgar, Quilter and Ralph Vaughan Williams, and a soon to be released recording of Dichterliebe and Liederkreis by Robert Schumann.
Malcolm Halliday has worked with numerous organizations as a pianist, including the Opera Company of Boston, and the Handel and Haydn Society. He currently is a member of the music faculty at Clark University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, both institutions of higher learning in Worcester, Massachusetts. An experienced concert presenter, for many years he was the Artistic Director of the Great Music Series in Massachusetts, he currently manages a cultural series in Massachusetts, Arts on the Green.
Malcolm Halliday is Minister of Music at the First Congregational Church in Shrewsbury, where he leads one of the largest church music ministries in central Massachusetts, consisting of four vocal choirs, three handbell choirs and other ensembles. He also manages a new concert and arts series at the church, Arts on the Green.
An active organ recitalist, he obtained certification in 2007 as a Fellow of the American Guild of Organists (FAGO) and has served as Dean of the Worcester chapter of the guild. He has also served on the national board of the United Church of Christ Musicians Association, and has presented workshops for both the American Guild of Organists and Andover Newton Theological School on topics relating to church music ministry. He just recently completed a term on the board of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association as the Repertoire and Standards Chairman for Music and Worship.
Malcolm Halliday has conducted the Master Singers of Worcester since the fall of 1998, after a long association with the chorus as both accompanist and assistant conductor. Under his leadership the chorus has developed a reputation as one of the finest in central Massachusetts, renown for dynamic and innovative programming, including several area premieres of such works as the Duke Ellington Sacred Concerts, and Ruth Watson Henderson’s Voices of Earth, commissioned works such as Gwyneth Walker’s New England Journey, and performances of more standard repertoire such as George Frideric Handel’s Israel in Egypt and Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle.
Malcolm Halliday has also worked extensively with children and youth, most recently as co-director of the Worcester Children’s Chorus, with which, until recently, he worked as pianist and artist-in-residence. As conductor he appears in the recent Albany Records recording "The River of Love", an album devoted to Shaker music and settings of Shaker themes by contemporary composers. He recently completed a term on the board of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association as the Repertoire and Standards Chairman for Music and Worship. He currently lives in Worcester, Massachusetts. |
