B i o g r a p h y
Halle Puckett, up-and-coming concert pianist, made her orchestral debut with the Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of sixteen after winning first prize in the Nelda Hodges Young Artist Competition. Since then, she has performed throughout the United States and in Europe and has been a featured soloist with professional orchestras, including The Philharmonic Orchestra of the University of Alicante, Virtuosi Brunensis Orchestra, McCall Festival Orchestra, and Round Rock Symphony Orchestra.
Halle’s music has taken her across the borders to France, where she performed in a musicale at Château des Faugs, the ancestral home of famous composer Vincent d’Indy. She was Grand Prize winner of the McKinney Young Artist Competition and has won awards in the Weatherford International Piano Competition, Texas State International Piano Festival Concerto Competition, and Texas Music Teachers Association’s student affiliate competitions. At the age of 12, Halle performed on National Public Radio’s From the Top.
She has participated as a young artist in festivals such as PianoTexas, MusicFest Perugia, and Texas State International Piano Festival. Following TSIPF, she was invited to perform a solo recital at the Blanco Performing Arts Center as recipient of the Betty Dickinson Award. She also worked at Yellow Barn Music Festival as a Music Research Assistant during the Summer of 2022.
Halle’s music has also established her locally. She is the daughter of concert pianists and can fondly remember being surrounded by Classical music from a very young age. She and her parents presented a benefit recital, “Pucketts at the Pianos,” for The Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra at Abilene, Texas’ Historic Paramount Theater. The recital included an innovative program with a variety of musical styles and combinations of pianos/hands.
She has had lessons and/or performed in master classes with renowned artists including Misha Dichter, Gary Graffman, Pascal Rogé, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Ilana Vared, Cecile Licad, Julian Martin, and Richard Goode.
She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance (Magna Cum Laude) from Texas Christian University, where she studied with John Owings. She was awarded the School of Music’s prestigious Nordan Piano Scholarship, Lili Kraus and Spitler Scholarships, and TCU Academic Scholarship. Halle finds joy in collaborating with her colleagues and was recipient of the Judith Solomon Piano Award for her achievements in Chamber Music at TCU. She performed with both the TCU orchestra and Fort Worth Youth Orchestra at Bass Hall as a part of the Ensemble Concert Series, "Celebrating 100 Years of Leonard Bernstein."
She currently studies with Dr. Steven Spooner at the Peabody Institute where she recently graduated with her Master's of Music degree. She was recipient of the Pauline Favine Award, which recognized her contributions to the area of Piano Performance at Peabody. In addition to performing, she enjoys the art of pedagogy and will continue her studies at Peabody as a Graduate Assistant in Keyboard Studies.
Halle also enjoys painting, writing poetry, boxing, and anything to do with dogs!
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