The information on this site
was researched and written
by the music preservationist
who has been active for over 50 years...

Roger Lee Hall
shown with some of his publications




He is a prolific composer and American Music Preservationist
who has researched and written about vocal music from earlier America.



He began his music activity while in high school writing pop song lyrics.

After three years serving in the U.S. Army in Germany,
he began private lessons in piano and theory with a professional musician.

In 1967, he was given a Certificate with Honours for Music Theory from Trinity College in London.

His first classical composition, "Piano Variations on an Oriental Theme," was completed in 1968
and published in 1984 when he joined ASCAP.

See the list of his music compositions from -- PineTree Music.

In 1970, he received a B.A. in Music Theory and Composition from Rutgers University.

Two years later, he received an M.A. in Ethnomusicolog at Binghamton University in New York State.

He also did Ph. D studies in Musicology at Case Western Reserve University,
where his research was done on relgiious folk music of the Shakers and American popular songs.
He taught his first class there: "History of American Popular Music."

In addition to his numerous publications, he has been a radio host and
cable TV producer for a series celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Old Stoughton Musical Society,
Ameerica's oldest choral society, organized in 1786.

 

For his valuable pioneering work on American historical music, he has been listed in
International Who's Who in Music, Who's Who in America, and other directories.

In addition to the Center for American Music Preservation,
he is also Director of the American Music Recordings Archive -- AMRA,
and the New England Music Archive --NEMA.

He has also produced over 50 CDs for the American Music Recordings Collection --AMRC.

See his 60 titles about many areas of American music in the series known as: PineTree Multimedia Editions -- PTME.

For 50 years he has been presenting music lectures and research papers
at shcolarly conferences, historical societies, libraries and more.

See the list of his music lectures and workshops -- click here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now Available in the Memories and Music Series!

 

His latest book with revealing stories about some of the songs that were most important in his life:

"Gentle Peace" - Songs For Survival

Read about his book --

click here

 

 

 

 

His Ten Music Collections
in the American Historical Music Series (AHMS)
(listed alphabetically)

 

"Dedication" -
A Guide to Singing Meetings and Concerts, 1762-1992

See the list of his 25 multimedia publications --  click here

 

 

 

 

 

Personal Profile

 

Roger Lee Hall has been one of the most productive researchers and writers working to uncover American music from the past and help preserve it for the future.

He has produced over 100 titles of music publications and recordings.

PineTree Multimedia Editions (PTME) - 60 titles -- click here

He is also Album Producer for the American Music Recordings Collection (AMRC) - 52 titles -- click here

For over four decades, he has been actively working as --

ASCAP Composer of instrumental and vocal music
Cable Television Producer for "In Concert" and "Now and Then"
Conductor of various choruses, including the Old Stoughton Musical Society - America's oldest surviving choral society
Ethnomusicologist studying and performing religious folk music of the Shakers
Film Music Critic for Film Music Review (an Online e-zine since 1998)
Music consultant for Boston Camerata, National Geographic Society, Sampler Records and others
Musicologist for various publications on film music, church music, folk music, popular music
Lecturer on various music topics
Radio host of program featuring music frrom 1930s to 1950s
Teacher of music classes in college and adult education program in Massaachusetts



 

 


Here are two AMRC CDs with his music:

 



 

 

 

College Studies

In 1968, he attended Rutgers University - Newark College of Arts & Sciences in Newark, NJ and composed his first classical compositions: Piano Variations on an original theme (Op. 1, No. 1), Percussion Quartet (Op. 2) and six haiku songs - based on his own poems (Op. 3) -- all of them published by PineTree Music. He studied conducting and music history with the distinguished musicologist, Alfred Mann; piano with Chester Fanning Smith; and composition with Robert Nagel and George Walker (the first Afro-American to receive a Pulitzer Prize for his music in 1996). Mr. Hall graduated in 1970 with a B.A. degree in Music Theory and Composition.

Two years later, in 1972, he was awarded his M.A. degree in Ethnomusicology from the State University of New York at Binghamton (now Binghamton University). His Master's Thesis was titled: "The Shaker Letteral System: A Practical Approach to Music Notation." Several of his instrumental compositions were performed there: "Tricinium" for clarinet, oboe and bassoon, and "Seven Variations on a Shaker Marching Tune" for piano, which has been recorded on these three CDs:

 

 

 



His Ph.D. studies in Musicology took place at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, where his specialty was Shaker music and music from early America. He arranged several Shaker tunes for chorus in 1974 for a major conference celebrating the bicentennial of the Shakers arrival in America, held at the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland. His research involved the music of the North Union Shakers, a community that existed in the 19th century in what is today Shaker Heights, Ohio. His research has been published and available on this multimedia computer disc:

 

Music Teaching

Also while at Case Western Reserve University, he taught his first music class. He was then teaching assistant for the well-known Cleveland disc jockey, Bill Randle, who had introduced Elvis Presley on national television in 1956. Randle invited Mr. Hall to teach his class on the History of American Popular Music. Later, he compiled a multimedia disc about him: The Bill Randle Chronicles

During the 1980s and 1990s, he taught courses in music listening and film music at Stonehill College in North Easton, Massachusetts; and classical music, film music and popular music for the Brookline Adult and Community Education Program (BA&CEP) in Massachusetts, where his classes were equivalent to college-level music courses and were very popular with the adults who attended.

Cable Television

In addition to teaching, he has produced and hosted several series for cable television: "In Concert" and "Now and Then" - featuring local musicians, actors and local citizens. These are a few of the composers featured in these programs: William Billings, Dudley Buck, Stephen Foster, Edwin Arthur Jones, Oliver Shaw, Randall Thompson.

 

Music on Radio

For many years he was a guest on radio stations in the Boston, Massachusetts area, including the popula program, "Music America" hosted by Ron Della Chiesa on WGBH-FM, where he Hall was a frequent guest talking about American classical music, popular songs.

In 1989 on "Music America," he announced the first of his annual Sammy Film Music Awards.

In 1993, he hosted his own four-hour nightly radio program, featuring popular music from the 1930s, '40s and '50s and with special highlights like Top Ten Big Band Themes, Songs of World War II, and the weekly "Wednesday Night at the Movies."




 

 

 

Music research

As musicologist and ethnomusicologist, he has spent many years researching, editing and performing music from two of the oldest singing traditions in the USA:

 

The Old Stoughton Musical Society (OSMS) is now the oldest surviving choral society in the USA, founded in 1786. As OSMS Historian, Roger Hall organized two music festivals: "Musick in Old New England" (1978) and "Musick in Old Boston" (1980), featuring music scholars and concerts by local musicians. Also, he produced a cable television series, "In Concert," and he conducted the chorus for several years plus he composed music for them to perform.

In 1985, he wrote and narrated a 30 minute documentary about the Old Stoughton Musical Society which was shown on local cable television.

Five years later, he produced a one hour video documentary titled, "A Stoughton Musicfest."

His publications includes these titles:

--E.A. Jones: His Life and Music (1984)
--Music in Stoughton (1989)
--The Stoughton Songster (1991)
--Music in Early Canton: Historical Notes and Music (1997)
--New England Songster: Songs written between 1768 and 1988 (1997)
--Ten Town Tunes: Music From Stoughton (1998)
--"Majesty" - William Billings and The Stoughton Musical Society (2000)
--"Dedication" - Singing in Stoughton, 1762-1992 (2017/ 2019)

 

Also, he wrote several historical plays featuring music from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.:

To read about his Stoughton Music Heritage Series -- click here

 

For over 50 years, he has researched and edited music by the Shakers, America's oldest surviving religious communal society.
Also, he has interviewed Shaker singers about their music.

His publications includes these titles:

--"The Happy Journey": Thirty-Five Shaker Spirituals(1982)
--"Come Life, Shaker Life": The Life and Music of Elder Issachar Bates (2004)
-- "Blended Together": Discoveries Along The Shaker Music Trail (2011)
--"Simple Gifts": Great American Folk Song (2014)
--"Give Good Gifts": Shaker Music in Our Time (2015)
--"May We Ever Be Un ited": Music of the North Union, Ohio Shakers (2016)
--"The Humble Heart": A Forty Year Survey of Shaker Music (2016)
--"Invitation to Zion": A Shaker Music Guide (2021)


The following CDs have music edited or arranged by Roger Hall:

 

He has been music consultant for these recordings of Shaker music:

JOY OF ANGELS: Shaker Spiritualsd For Christmas and The New Year (1995)

LOVE IS LITTLE: A Sampling of Shaker Spirituals (1996)

The River of Love: Music of the Shakers and Music Based on Shaker Themes (2007)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1999, he edited the recordings and wrote the notes for a 72 page booklet which accompanied the largest recorded sessions of the Shakers singing and speaking about their music from 1960 to 1980,

 

Let Zion Move: Music of the Shakers (Rounder Records, 2 CD set)

 

 

His latest CD production is now available with this title:

click here

 

 

 

 

Lectures and Workshops

He has been a prolific lecturer and has presented over 100 programs and workshops
on various music topics.

For a list of his music lecture and workshop topics -- click here

 

 




Two Deluxe Multimedia Collections

 

 

To read about this title -- click here

 

 

To read about this title -- click here

See the complete list of his collections at PineTree Multimedia Editions -- click here

 

 

 

Professional Recognition

Because of his considerable accomplishments is so many areas of music,
Mr. Hall has been listed in various professional directories, including
both Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the World.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Composer-in-Residence

Roger Lee Hall is the composer-in-residence
for this website.

His compositions are available exclusively from PineTree Music.

 

 

 

Director of the American Music Recordings Archive (AMRA)

click here

 

 

 

 

Director of the Center for American Music Preservation (CAMP)

click here

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Album Producer

See the complete catalogue of
AMRC CDs --
click here

 

 

 

 

 

Managing Editor, Film Music Review

 

 

 

 

Director, Sammy Film Music Awards,
named in honor of lyricist, Sammy Cahn

 

 


PineTree Multimedia Editions (PTME)

See the list of titles

click here

 

 

 

 

New England Music Archive

click here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Some of his numerous articles:


"Shaker Hymnody: An American Communal tradition"
in Journal of Church Music, Volume 17/ Number 8 (October, 1975).
Reprinted in The Hymn, Volume 27/Number 1 (January 1976)

"An Interview with Sir Michael Tippett"
in Journal of Church Music, Volume 20/ Number 4 (April 1978)

"Singing Stoughton"
in Journal of Church Music, Volume 22/Number 1 (January 1980)

"Simple Gifts: Shaker simplicity in song"
in The Shaker Messenger, Volume 2/ Number 2 (Winter 1980)

"An Interview with Aaron Copland"
in Journal of Church Music Volume 24/ Number 2 (February 1982)

"An Early American Auld Lang Syne"
We're History - online site (2016)

"Simple Gifts" - The Discovery and Popularity of a Shaker Dance Song
in Communal Societies, Volume 36, Number 2 (2016)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Music lectures and workshops

 


See the list of his lectures, webinars and workshops

click here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 









 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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