[Dr. Jonathan Bailey Holland with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Robert Spano, conductor, after a performance of the composer's work “Summer Frenzy”. Photo from JonathanBaileyHolland.com]
Dr. Jonathan Bailey Holland is an African American composer who was born in Flint, Michigan in 1974 and has been composing since his days at the world-renowned Interlochen Arts Academy. Holland's website is JonathanBaileyHolland.com Here is an excerpt on his background and education, followed by a list of commissions and performances:
“Background & Education
Originally from Flint, MI, Holland began studying composition while a student at the Interlochen Arts Academy, where he received a school-wide award for his very first composition. Upon graduation from Interlochen, he continued his composition studies with Ned Rorem at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he received a Bachelor of Music degree. He went on to receive a Ph.D. in Music from Harvard University, where his primary teachers were Bernard Rands and Mario Davidovsky. He has also studied with Andrew Imbrie, Yehudi Wyner, Robert Saxton and Robert Sirota. Currently, he is Associate Professor of Composition at the Berklee College of Music.”
Commissions & Performances
Holland's works have been performed and commissioned by numerous performing organizations. Highlights include:
Primary Movements, a ballet commissioned by the Dallas Symphony and the Dallas Black Dance Theater
Halcyon Sun, commissioned by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, in celebration of the opening of the Freedom Center National Underground Railroad Museum
Motor City Dance Mix, commissioned by the Detroit Symphony, in celebration of the opening of the Max M. Fischer Music Center
Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock, commissioned by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, for their educational concert series
Signals, commissioned by the National Symphony in honor of the 25th Anniversary of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Summer Frenzy, commissioned by the Minnesota Orchestra for their Viennese Sommerfest
House of Dreams, commissioned by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, in memory of James Rouse
Visit to St. Elizabeth's, commissioned by the Wellesley College Choir
Symphony (of Light), commissioned by the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia
Festival Music, commissioned by the Greater Twin Cities Youth Orchestras
The Great Race, commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Youth Orchestra to showcase two orchestras of varying levels performing at the same time
On his Faculty page at the website of the Berklee College of Music, Prof. Jonathan Bailey Holland expounds on his teaching philosophy:
"I think a lot of times people think about theory as random rules on how notes have to go together. I'm trying to stress that nothing is random, that everything makes sense from point A to point Z, and that everything at point A is the same as everything at point Z, just on a smaller scale. If you look at one phrase of music, everything that happens in that phrase is similar to what happens over the course of the entire piece.”
Holland has been a Composer-in-Residence most recently with the Ritz Chamber Players, 2006-2007. The website of the Greater Baltimore Youth Orchestras reviews his experience in an article from December 2005:
“He has received awards and honors from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, American Music Center, American Academy of Arts and Letters, ASCAP, the Presser Foundation, Boston Conservatory, Austin Peay State University and Harvard University. Past associations include serving as Composer-in-Residence for the Plymouth Music Series of Minnesota (currently known as Vocal Essence) and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He has also served as Composer-in-Residence with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra as part of the Music Alive Residency program, sponsored by the American Symphony Orchestra League and Meet the Composer. The residency included the premiere of a newly commissioned work for their family concerts, as well as Holland's "Actions Rendered: Interpretations of Pollock for Three Orchestras," which is based on the paintings of Jackson Pollock. As an advocate for music education, many of Holland's residencies have included visits to schools, libraries, churches and civic groups, where he has given presentations about the art of composition. His catalog of compositions includes a number of educational works that have been performed frequently by several orchestras on family and young people's concerts.”
Jonathan Holland
classical musicAfrican AmericanBlack ComposerMusic ProfessorUnderground Railroad
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