BRAD HALLS is a retired lawyer, now living back in his home town of Fergus, Ontario, after practising law for 35 years in Cobourg, Ontario, who has always led an active “double life” as a pianist, singer, actor and composer.

He has performed in many acting roles with Northumberland Players, one of Ontario’s most successful community theatre organizations, including appearances as Pseudolus in Stephen Sondheim’s “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”, as Alfred P. Doolittle in Lerner and Loewe’s “My Fair Lady”, as Dr. Craven in “The Secret Garden” as The Baker in Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods” and as Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks in “Annie”.  He has also appeared in stage productions of “Brigadoon” and “Joseph and Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat”.  He has been the pianist or musical director for many other productions including “Cabaret”, “Gypsy”, “Camelot”, “The Music Man”, “Fiddler on the Roof”, “The King and I”, “Mame”, “Oklahoma” and “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown!”.   As a pianist, he was invited by the Government of Canada to perform for Zhao Ziyang, the Premier of China, on his official visit to Canada.

From 1985 to 2012, Brad was the producer and principal performer in a series of concerts presented at Cobourg’s historic Victoria Hall entitled “WORDS AND MUSIC”.  These popular performances featured Brad and the area’s finest singers performing the music of the great popular songwriters, and the songs from the great musicals of Broadway and Hollywood.

For many years, Brad combined his talents as a composer with the lyric writing abilities of his friend and collaborator Paul Caldwell. Together the two performed for audiences of adults and children throughout Ontario.  Their three albums of children’s music, “NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK”, “SECOND CHILDHOOD”, and “AWESOME! (…and then some!)” became successful across Canada, and their original songs have been recorded by prominent artists such as Sharon, Lois and Bram and Fred Penner.  The pair were also the chief writers and performers for their television series for children “The Corner Store”, for which the two won CanPro Awards for excellence in independent Canadian television production.   Their stage productions “At the Drop of Yet Another Hat”, (based on the songs of Flanders and Swann), and “Just Kidding” were successful parts of the Lakeshore Summer Festival in Cobourg.

As a choral arranger, Mr. Halls’ arrangements have been performed and recorded by the award winning “La Jeunesse Girls Choir”, and by choral groups including “The Oriana Singers” and “The Peterborough Singers”.  He has presented his musical revue “The Songs of World War II” with his own choral arrangements with choirs in various Ontario locations.

Mr. Halls has also directed dramatic productions for the Northumberland Players, including the classic drama “Inherit the Wind”, and the Tony Award and Pultizer Prize winning play “Proof”.

For several years, Mr. Halls was been a member and officer of the Board of Directors of several musical organizations, including the La Jeunesse Girls Choir, the La Jeunesse Youth Orchestra and the Port Hope “All Canadian” Jazz Festival.

Since his return to live in Fergus, Brad has maintained a busy musical schedule.   He has sung with the Guelph Chamber Choir since 2012 and is currently the President of the Choir’s Board of Directors.  He serves as the music director of Bethany United Church in the Fergus-Elora area, and plays jazz piano on a regular basis at “Manhattans, a noted Guelph dining and entertainment venue, as well as concerts in a variety of locations.