ERIC HALEN
VIOLIN
Eric Halen joined the Houston Symphony as Assistant Concertmaster in 1987. In 1997, he assumed the position of Associate Concertmaster, and served as Acting Concertmaster for the 2005–06, 2008–09, and 2009–2010 seasons. He received the Bachelor’s degree at Central Missouri State University, where he studied violin with his father, Dr. Walter Halen. At the age of 20, he earned the Master’s degree from the University of Illinois, while studying with Sergiu Luca. At age 23, he became Artist Teacher of Violin at Texas Christian University. He is currently a member of the violin faculty at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.
Mr. Halen has performed in solo and chamber music programs in the U.S. and abroad, and has collaborated with many pre-eminent artists including violinist Sergiu Luca, violist Lawrence Dutton, cellist Ralph Kirschbaum, and pianists Christoph Eschenbach and John Kimura Parker. He has appeared frequently with Da Camera of Houston and CONTEXT, and has performed at the Aspen Music Festival, the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan, and the Cascade Head Festival in Oregon. As a member of the Houston Symphony Chamber Players with Christoph Eschenbach, he toured the U.S., Japan, and Europe, and recorded Messiaen’s “Quartet for the End of Time” for Koch International. Mr. Halen has been featured as soloist many times with the Houston Symphony, in works such as Prokofiev’s Concerto in G minor with conductor Christoph Eschenbach, and the Mozart’s duet aria Non temer amato bene with soprano Barbara Bonney and conductor Hans Graf at New York’s Carnegie Hall.
