John Farnsworth Hall

He went to London to further his career, and played under various notable conductors. He harboured an ambition to be a conductor himself, and while on tour in New Zealand, he was given an opportunity to conduct when Henri Verbrugghen fell ill.^[1]

He then became leader and deputy conductor of the new Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO). In 1946, Hall conducted the first performance by the SSO of Mozart's Flute Concerto No. 2 in D (an arrangement of his Oboe Concerto in C, K. 314), with Neville Amadio as soloist.^[3]

In 1947 he was appointed the first resident conductor of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO).^[4][5] During his time there, he introduced the symphonies of Ralph Vaughan Williams to Queensland concert-goers.^[6] Conducting the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, featuring soprano Tatjana Hitrina, he covered Auber's Fra Diavolo, Khachaturian's Masquerade and others including "Knowest thou the Land". It was broadcast on ABC radio at 9:15 pm Wednesday 11 November 1953.^[7] He made a classic recording of Alfred Hill's piece for narrator and orchestra, Green Water, with the QSO and the speaker Peter Munro in 1954.^[8]

From 1954 he was conductor in residence of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.^{[9][10][11][12]}

He retired from conducting in 1965, and died in 1987, aged 87. He was survived by his third wife and a daughter, both named Deirdre and grandchildren Brendan and Chapin Ayres.^[1]