Horizon Records is proud to stock and shout the praises of former Greenville resident, Fine Arts Center graduate violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins, now residing in NYC

American Record Guide
Here is an artist who deserves not just a hearing but fame itself. I’m always hesitant when reviewing an album produced by an artist unknown to me. It’s obviously an act an act of self promotion, but when it’s this good, then bully for her! There are so many outstanding talents who fail to catch fire because they don’t promote themselves. Right from the start in the Kreisler (for violin alone), it’s clear that Hall-Tompkins is beyond technique. Kelly Hall-Tompkins has a firm presence and, above all, a grasp of the work’s structure. In the Suk (with piano) she leans into phrases, giving them plenty of breathing room while never letting the music die on the vine. The Ysaye and the Bach are choice examples of her solid grasp of structure and, thus, her powers of interpretation. The introduction to Sonata 3 is a long, anguished sigh with recitative-like rubato and long pauses, expressively wrought with rich tone colors as it works up to an intense flowing finale. In the first minutes of Partita 2 I feared she had lost that compelling quality, only to realize by the end that she caught me up without my being aware of it; what she did, in fact, was recognize the difference between building an 8 minute versus a 15-minute piece, while achieving the same searing intensity. She achieves the same even in Saint-Saens’s Fantasy for violin and harp.  In brief, she compels you to listen. Summerland is the only weak selection here (William Grant Still’s fault, not the soloist’s), using the same major-key pentatonic “is everybody happy” kind of melodies as Roderick Elms (see my review of his album in this issue). Ethnic Variations for violin and piano by David Baker Jr. (born 1931 and chairman of the jazz department at Indiana U) is really a set of jazz variations (with a little Lawrence of Arabia thrown in) on Paganini’s Caprice 24, showing Hall-Tompkins’s virtuosity in yet another style. She turns it into crossover-with-class. The engineering is excellent, and the program notes are well written and to the point. —Gil French, American Record Guide

Other Recent Reviews (Excerpted)

Fanfare Magazine
“Kelly Hall-Tompkins plays Kreisler’s tribute to Eugène Ysaÿe…with a tonal mastery (on, and off, the 1732 Kaston Guarneri del Gesù), a technical command, and a strength of personality that justify the CD’s title… opulent intensity and cloaks the opening and ending in a similarly gauzy veil… almost inaudible in the opening, rising only later to sonorously dramatic, exotically mysterious statement, taking quite a few steps beyond Oistrakh’s atmosphere…Chaconne- the variations lead to and build upon each other in a coherent way. Hall-Tompkins manages, at her more relaxed pace, to reveal a great deal of the work’s splendor… Saint-Saëns’s piece, and Hall-Tomkins’s performance of it, demonstrates its timbral and general musical potential… Taken as a whole, the recital represents a significant achievement in stylistic adaptability…Recommended.” —Robert Maxham, Fanfare Magazine

BBC Music Magazine    
“In My Own Voice includes technically confidant and strongly shaped readings of challenging unaccompanied works by Kreisler and Ysaye as well as the great Bach Chaconne…Hall-Tompkins combines prettily with harpist Anna Reinersman in a delightfully inventive fantasia…and with pianist Craig Ketter she delivers sweetly played bonbons by Suk and William Grant Still.” —Anthony Burton, BBC Music Magazine

Blog Critics Magazine
“Chaconne” by Johann Sebastian Bach…is an enthralling fifteen minute performance… Kelly Hall-Tompkins’ wonderful performance is remarkable… In My Own Voice contains a wide ranging choice of violin pieces each of which are played immaculately. Kelly Hall-Tompkins performs the technically demanding Bach and Ysaye compositions, alongside the beautifully haunting Saint Saens, the lively Kreisler, and the fascinating Baker variations with equal mastery and remarkable versatility. The beauty of the artiste, the instrument she graces, and the music chosen positively radiates from the recording.” —Jeff Perkins, Blog Critics Magazine  

AllMusic.com
“Confidence and control… Hall-Tompkins plays with obvious enthusiasm…everything’s solid…and in her capacity for taking chances on unfamiliar material, Hall-Tompkins serves notice that she’s a young violinist to be watched.” —James Manheim, AllMusic.com