About this Artist

The music of composer Jonathan Bailey Holland (b. 1974) has been performed and commissioned by numerous organizations, both nationally and internationally, including the Atlanta, Baltimore, BBC, Cincinnati, Charlotte, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, New World, Richmond, and San Antonio symphony orchestras; the Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Florida Philharmonic, Chicago Youth Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra, Abeo Quartet, Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia, Hotel Elefant, der/gelbe/klang, and Roomful of Teeth; and soloists Ignat Solzhenitsyn, Sarah Bob, and Demarre McGill, among many others.

Holland, originally from Flint, MI, became the first composer-in-residence with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 2018, which led to the premiere of his work Ode, a companion work to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. He also served as the Classical Roots Composer-in-Residence with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, which included serving as mentor composer for the American Composers Orchestra’s EarShot Readings with the Detroit Symphony. He served as composer-in-residence with Boston’s Radius Ensemble, the Jacksonville-based Ritz Chamber Players, and with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra through the Music Alive program, sponsored by Meet the Composer and the American Symphony Orchestra League (now the League of American Orchestras). During this residency, he gave presentations at schools, libraries, and churches in the greater South Bend area and the orchestra premiered his compositions Four Sections and Actions Rendered: Interpretations of Pollock for Three Orchestras. He previously held residencies with the Plymouth Music Series of Minnesota (now known as VocalEssence) as part of its WITNESS program and with the Detroit Symphony through the Unisys African American Composer Residency and National Symposium program, which included the premiere of his composition Fanfares and Flourishes on an Ostinato, later recorded by the Detroit Symphony and released on its private label.

Holland has received awards and honors from the Guggenheim Foundation, The Boston Foundation, Civitella Ranieri Foundation, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University, American Academy of Arts and Letters, American Music Center, ASCAP, the Presser Foundation, and others. He was a two-time winner of the Indianapolis Symphony’s Marian K. Glick Young Composer’s Showcase, which led to performances of his compositions Martha’s Waltz and Summer Frenzy. His composition Visit to St. Elizabeth was awarded first prize in the treble division of the 2003 Roger Wagner Contemporary Choral Composition Competition and is published by Gentry Publications.

His music has been recorded by the Cincinnati Symphony, the University of Texas Trombone Choir, Transient Canvas, trumpeter Jack Sutte, flutist Christopher Chaffee, pianist Sarah Bob, and more.

A strong advocate for music education, Holland has written works for educational concerts and has given lectures and presentations at over 50 schools and other public institutions. His educational works have been premiered by the Philadelphia, Cleveland, St. Louis Symphony, and South Bend Symphony orchestras, as well as members of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

Holland is dean of the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University, where he is also the Kay Davis Professor of Music. He previously served as the Jack G. Buncher Head of the School of Music at Carnegie Mellon University and chair of Composition, Contemporary Music, and Core Studies at Boston Conservatory at Berklee. He was a founding faculty member in the low-residency MFA program in music composition at Vermont College of Fine Arts, where he also served as faculty chair from 2016 until 2019. In addition, he has served on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music.