David Halen
David Halen is living a dream that began as a youth the first time he saw the St. Louis Symphony perform in Warrensburg, Missouri. Born in Bellevue, Ohio, he didn’t have to look far for his musical influences: his father, the late Walter J. Halen, was also his violin professor at Central Missouri State University; his mother, a former member of the Kansas City Symphony; and his older brother, co-concermaster of the Houston Symphony Orchestra. Halen began playing the violin at the age of six, and earned his bachelor’s degree at the age of 19. In that same year, he won the Music Teachers National Association Competition and was granted a Fulbright scholarship for study at the Freiburg Hochschule für Musik in Germany, the youngest recipient ever to have been honored with this award.
In addition, Halen holds a master’s degree from the University of Illinois studying with Sergiu Luca. Halen served as Assistant Concertmaster with the Houston Symphony Orchestra under Sergiu Comissiona and Christoph Eschenbach until winning associate concertmaster of St. Louis, where he was permanently named Concertmaster in September 1995.
He has soloed with the orchestra in 23 different violin concerti. In addition, he has soloed with the Houston, San Francisco and West German Radio (Cologne) symphonies, and has led the Toronto and Detroit Symphonies. He also led the Cincinnati Symphony on a three week European tour in 2017.
During the summer he teaches and performs extensively, serving as Concertmaster and teaching violin at the Aspen Music Festival and School. He has also soloed, taught and served as Concertmaster extensively at the Orford Arts Centre in Quebec, the Manhattan School of Music, Indiana University, the National Youth Orchestra, the Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, and the New World Symphony.
In the fall of 2012, Halen in addition became a full-time violin professor at the University of Michigan, from which numerous students have started successful careers. As cofounder and artistic director of the Innsbrook Institute, Halen coordinates a weeklong festival, in June, of exciting musical performances and an enclave for aspiring artists. In August, he is artistic director of the Missouri River Festival of the Arts in Boonville, Missouri.
His numerous accolades include the 2002 St. Louis Arts and Entertainment Award for Excellence, and an honorary doctorates from Central Missouri State University and from the University of Missouri-Saint Louis. David Halen plays on a 1753 Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin, made in Milan, Italy.