The next generation of composers is already making waves in the world of classical music, and Dylan Hall is leading the charge. His composition, Scherzo for Orchestra, will be performed live by the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra at the Classics Series concert Gil Shaham Returns on November 8-9, 2025, at Dr. Phillips Center’s Steinmetz Hall. Dylan has captured national attention with innovative compositions, blending youthful creativity with an exceptional sense of orchestral craft.
Dylan’s musical journey began early in life. Though he plays piano and percussion now, he learned classical guitar as a young child, followed by clarinet and violin. He started learning piano at eight years old and would study the Piano Adventures lesson books. Uninspired by what he was learning, he one day came across a video on YouTube of Chopin’s Torrent Etude. Dylan’s piano teacher told him the piece was too difficult, so Dylan decided to learn a different Chopin piece on his own. When Dylan showed up at his lesson playing Chopin’s Fantasy Impromptu, he changed his mind and helped him to learn other Etudes.
It wasn’t too long before Dylan’s piano teacher decided he was too advanced in his skills and would need to find another teacher. He was then introduced to Michael James Smith, who was skilled at teaching classical music as a concert pianist. It was through him that Dylan was introduced to Schubert’s late Piano Sonata in A Major, which gave him the idea to start writing his own music.
Currently, Dylan is a student at Albany High School. Prior to this, he was also enrolled at the prestigious San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Pre-College Program, studying composition with Arkadi Serper. In addition to his academic and composition studies, Dylan is a dedicated performer. He performs as a keyboardist with the San Francisco Youth Orchestra, gaining firsthand experience in orchestral performance that directly informs his compositions.
Dylan’s compositional achievements are already remarkable. In 2023, when he was just 15 years old, he won the Kris Getz Competition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music for his Scherzo for Quartet, which was performed by graduating musicians at the school’s commencement ceremony.
Building on this success, Dylan was a winner of the 2024 National Young Composers Challenge (NYCC) in Orlando, Florida after being introduced to the NYCC through his composition teacher, Arkadi Serper. Dylan had wanted to write his first orchestra piece, and this was a reason to complete that goal.
The NYCC is a yearly competition as part of UCF Celebrates the Arts where young composers from around the United States submit original compositions for either a small ensemble or a full orchestra. A panel of judges selects the top three orchestral and top three ensemble pieces to be performed and recorded by the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra at the NYCC Composium held at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts’ Steinmetz Hall in Orlando, Florida.
Before writing his winning piece, Dylan was improvising for fun one day and wrote a few lines in his notebook. A few months later, he shared it with his teacher who inspired him to consider expanding the idea into a full orchestra piece.
The melody was mischievous, devious, and silly. He was listening to a lot of Shostakovich and Prokofiev at the time and decided to study Shostakovich’s Ninth Symphony and Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s library. Dylan found these pieces to be witty and sarcastic, which appealed to him at the time. As a percussionist and former Clarinetist, the orchestration for percussion and winds was especially inspiring for him.
Dylan’s winning full orchestra piece, Scherzo for Orchestra, was premiered by the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra on April 14, 2024. The piece showcases his inventive use of percussion, his playful sense of comedic timing, and his sophisticated nods to his self-proclaimed “Composer-idols” Shostakovich and Prokofiev. Dylan is looking forward to working with Music Director Eric Jacobsen and Orlando Philharmonic Musicians again, and to hearing the piece a second time with the modifications he’s made since the last performance.
Dylan’s favorite thing about composing is the empowering freedom that comes from writing music. He compares that freedom of expression to writing in a journal; it helps him to better understand the world and what’s going on around him.
In his own words, Dylan “couldn’t ask for a more rewarding experience. The fact that the Orlando Philharmonic chose to feature my piece is incredibly exciting and I’m humbled by the opportunity.”
Currently, Dylan is applying to college and working on a piano trio for The Young Chamber Musicians Group in The Bay Area. Scherzo for Orchestra will also be performed by the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra as part of the subscription programming in May 2026.
Dylan Hall is a composer whose work already demonstrates remarkable maturity and originality. His music combines technical skills with imaginative storytelling, drawing listeners into vibrant, unexpected sound worlds. As audiences experience Scherzo for Orchestra and his future works, it’s clear that Dylan is a young composer to watch—someone poised to make a lasting impact on the orchestral landscape.
You can listen to Dylan Hall’s Scherzo for Orchestra on the National Young Composer’s Challenge website: https://youngcomposerschallenge.org/composium_recordings.php and see it performed live on Saturday, November 8 and Sunday, November 9: https://orlandophil.org/event/gil-shaham-returns/