Lee University
Lee University

 

David R. Holsinger

 
PUBLICATIONS FROM THE PEN OF DAVID R. HOLSINGER - TRN MUSIC

TEXAS BANDMASTERS / USAF HERITAGE COMPOSERS SERIES

LEE UNIVERSITY

LEE UNIVERSITY INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIPS AT LEE

ABA OSTWALD PRIZE

DAVID HOLSINGER'S EASTER SYMPHONY

BCM - Holsinger Discussion Forum

MY FAMILY SEARCH PAGE

 

Banddirector.com Video Presentation

 Thoughts on Teaching Expressive Performance
by David Holsinger


Lee University Wind Ensemble

Winona Holsinger
Winona Holsinger

A native of Lexington, Missouri, Winona Gray Holsinger received her BME from Central Missouri State University, Warrensburg, and a Master of Music from the University of North Texas in wind studies and conducting, under the tutelage of Eugene Corporon.  Mrs. Holsinger has taught in the public schools of Missouri and Kansas, and served nine years as a band director at Shady Grove Christian Academy in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.  For six years, Mrs. Holsinger was also the Assistant Conductor of the Irving, Texas,  Community Adult Concert Band. 

Mrs. Holsinger is currently on the staff of the Lee University School of Music, where she teaches conducting, music survey, and serves as Instrumental Inventory and Instrumental Music Library Manager.  Mrs. Holsinger is a member of Women Band Directors International and serves the Cleveland, Tennessee,  community as Scholarship Chairperson of the Cleveland Symphony Guild.  In recent years, Mrs. Holsinger's schedule has also included serving as clinician and conductor of high school and junior high honor bands in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama.

 

SHORT PROGRAM BIO FOR DAVID HOLSINGER 

     In 1999, award winning composer and conductor David R. Holsinger joined the faculty of Lee University, Cleveland, Tennessee.  He is the inaugural conductor of the Lee Wind Ensemble and teaches composition, orchestration, and conducting. He holds degrees from Central Methodist University, University of Central Missouri, and the University of Kansas. 

      Dr. Holsinger's compositions have won four national competitions, including a two time ABA Ostwald Award.  His works have also been finalists in the NBA and Sudler composition competitions.  In the summer of 1998, Holsinger was featured as the HERITAGE VI composer during the Texas Bandmasters Association convention in San Antonio.  This prestigious series celebrating American wind composers was founded in 1992 and had previously honored Morton Gould, Ron Nelson, Robert Jager, W. Francis McBeth, and Roger Nixon.  An elected member of the American Bandmasters Association, Holsinger's recent honors include the Distinguished Music Alumni Award from Central Missouri State University, CIDA'S 1999 Director of the Year Citation, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia's Orpheus Award, the 2003 Distinguished Alumni Award from Central Methodist College, and the 2003 Excellence in Scholarship Citation from Lee University. Surrounding the premiere of the composer's EASTER SYMPHONY, Holsinger was honored by Gustavus Adolphus College with the awarding of an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters for lifetime achievement in composition and presented the Gustavus Fine Arts Medallion, the division's highest award. 

Holsinger was one of eleven composers contributing a chapter in the GIA project entitled COMPOSERS ON COMPOSING FOR BAND.  This projected 4 volume book venture is edited by Mark Camphouse and Volume I, which includes chapters from such notable composers as David Gillingham, Karel Husa, and W. Francis McBeth, among others, was released in December, 2002.   A chapter concerning the music of David Holsinger is included in A COMPOSER'S INSIGHT: THOUGHTS, ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY ON CONTEMPORARY MASTERPIECES FOR WIND BAND, VOL III, edited by Timothy Saltzman and published by Meredith Publications in 2006.  In addition, Holsinger was the subject of a special article in the German music magazine, "Musik zum Lesen" in celebration of his 60th birthday in December, 2005.  He has previously been featured in "Bl'sermusik" magazine, also a German publication.  Biographical and commentary on Holsinger's works can be found in both 'The Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music', Vol. I and III, and in Norman Smith's 'Program Notes for Band'. 

      In the past twelve years, Holsinger has served as Visiting Distinguished Composer in Residence at eleven American colleges or universities, including the Acuff Chair of Excellence in the Creative Arts at Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, Tennessee.   

      In addition to his university duties, Holsinger spends much of his energies as a guest composer and conductor with All State organizations, professional bands, and university ensembles throughout the United States. When not composing or conducting, he models HO scale trains.   

 

MUSIC AT LEE UNIVERSITY - AN OVERVIEW 

The Lee University School of Music is dedicated to music education and performance, be it on the church platform or the concert stage.  Under the leadership of Dr. Stephen Plate, Dean of the School of Music, that dedication is easily seen in the rapid growth and national prominence of both its programs and its faculty.  The university population is circa 4000 students, with 270+ music majors and nearly 700+ students involved in some venue of music performance. 

Long known for its dedication to Christian Music, Lee has graduated a number of young people who have gone on to successful recording and ministry careers.  The Lee Festival Choir can be heard on the CD entitled 'Best Choirs in America' and both Lee Singers and Campus Choir have made appearances on the Inspiration Network and with various artists, including Alvin Slaughter, Ron Kenoly, and Bill Gaither. 

Equally important is the Lee vocal commitment to the concert arts.  The Choral Union, under the direction of Dr. William Green, presents yearly performances of major oratorio works. The Chorale, a 40+ voice selected ensemble, also under the direction of Green, presents four concerts a year featuring vocal works spanning five centuries.  Recent performances by this ensemble have been at the Tennessee Music Educators Conference and Carnage Hall in New York City. 

Opera is also a vital part of the vocal curriculum, and Lee boasts a number of its graduates beginning to fill major concert and opera roles in distinguished companies across the nation.  The Department of Vocal Music boasts of eight full time faculty members dedicated to individual study in voice.  There are five other vocal faculty members whose main responsibility is the various choirs of the department. 

In addition to degrees in performance and church music, the Lee School of Music is also highly motivated to teacher education.  Lee's Music Education department is headed by Dr. Linda Thompson, literally one of the nations leading and published experts in her field.  Currently Dr. Thompson serves as the chair of the Music Education Special Interest Group of AERA as well as serving on the executive board of the Society of Music Teacher Education. 

The Department of Instrumental Music hosts a vast array of ensembles and performing artist teachers.  Among the nine members of the piano faculty are international stars, Ning An and his wife, Gloria Chien.  Among Artist in Residence Ning An's many competition wins are the National Chopin Piano Competition and the 2006 Tivoli International Piano Competition held in Copenhagen.  Chein, also recorded in several chamber work CD's, has won competitions at the New England Conservatory, Boston Symphony, and Oberlin.  Both are students of world-renowned teacher, Russell Sherman.   

In addition to full-time studio faculty in winds, percussion and strings, our students also have an opportunity to study with the principals of the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra.  Embraced in the realm of the Instrumental department is a symphony orchestra, two concert bands, jazz ensemble, percussion ensemble and a host of chamber opportunities, all directed by outstanding conductors and teachers.  The Jazz program yearly brings home awards for distinction and both the Wind Ensemble and the Chamber Strings were invited to present concerts at the Tennessee Music Educators conference in recent years.   

The Symphonic Band, under the direction of senior faculty member, Dr. Mark Bailey, travels literally around the world as a ministry arm of the instrumental department. Conducted by American composer/conductor, David R. Holsinger, the Lee Wind Ensemble, a concert group whose repertoire consists of modern wind and percussion works, primarily of the 20th century, has performed at the Tennessee Music Educators Convention and was recently invited to present a concert at the Southern Division of CBDNA. 

In addition to preparing students for professional life after college graduation, the School of Music also finds value in preparing its students for graduate degrees in music, whether at Lee, or at other distinguished and prestigious schools of music across the nation.  

A Christian environment and teams of personally committed professionals are the hallmarks that encompass all programs in Lee's graduate studies.  Lee University's graduate programs provide an educational experience that meets the most important requirement - a profitable engagement of the student's time, purpose and personal resources. Three of the fifteen graduate degree programs at Lee reside in the School of Music:  The Master of Church Music, the Master of Music - Music Education, and the Master of Music - Music Performance. 

The Lee University School of Music is an exciting, energetic, imaginative, diverse environment, where the praise and worship guitarist, the opera singer, the trumpet soloist, the trap set drummer, the music business major, and the young conductor all thrive under the same banner - that Jesus Christ is LORD OF ALL and in His kingdom, a call for excellence knows no boundaries or limitations in our student's musical pursuits.