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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.
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