Meet Daniel Hall ’26

Audiences love a great soloist. Sitting in a concert hall, we know everyone in the band knows the sheet music, but when someone has to perform with nothing prepared, our nerves kick into gear. Most musicians never have to undergo that kind of pressure if they don’t want to, but saxophonists are not most musicians. For the sax, improvised solos are part of the job description, so the idea of a saxophonist that obsesses over preparation sounds oxymoronic. 

Enter junior Daniel Hall, who is just that. He might get up for a solo with no idea what he’s going to play, but from the moment he sits back down, he’s thinking ahead. “As a student, I’m locked in,” says Hall, who has been at Pingry since freshman year. To be clear, when he talks about being “locked in,” he doesn’t just mean during the school year. For Hall, the summer is the time when great students separate themselves from good ones. “You can’t get to the school year and then expect to be able to do everything 100%,” he explains, and he lived that philosophy over the summer. 

Over the break, Daniel spent as much time as he could gearing up for the school year. When he wasn’t getting on the court, training to make the varsity basketball team, he was studying for classes or doing organizational work for Peer-to-Peer, Neuroscience Club, and Black Affinity Group, the three clubs he is heading up this year. 

Daniel loves the grind. But he’s also a genuinely passionate student. Over the summer, he attended a two-week neuroscience program at Georgetown University, where he says he had some experiences he will never forget. “The teacher brought out like five boxes of brains and you got to hold them, touch them. It was the coolest thing ever.” It was during this program, Hall says, that he became fascinated by the idea of studying the brain. 

A voracious learner, Daniel takes as much advantage of Pingry’s STEM programs as he can.  He is now in his second year studying artificial DNA collagen with his IRT in addition to his involvement in Neuroscience Club. His interest in STEM, however, began long before he held a brain in his hands. “From childhood, I’ve always been really inquisitive,” he recalls, thinking back to his first experiences with problem solving. Now, with words like “major” and “career” to consider, Daniel is thinking about how he can use his passion for good. “I like to help people,” he says earnestly, and it must be true—his goal is to be a neurosurgeon, and he explained why he wanted to go into the field without mentioning money once. 

The path to becoming a neurosurgeon is not an easy one. As a matter of fact, neither is the one to graduating from Pingry. Looking at the road ahead, Daniel says his religious background has mentally prepared him for the challenge. “I’m a faithful person, so I’m trusting God to get me through,” he says, the belief apparent in his voice. 

And it may be belief, not confidence, that is the key to Daniel Hall. His confidence comes from his preparedness—all of the hours in the library, the lab, the gym, etc. The fact that it is fortified by genuine belief, however, is what allows him to take on so many challenges with open arms. 

So, next time Daniel stands up in Hauser for a sax solo with 1,000 people looking on, don’t be nervous for him—he knows he’s got this.