Faculty Spotlight
Dr. Jonathan Holden
English born Clarinetist Jonathan Holden received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Michigan State University. He studied there with the eminent soloist and chamber musician Dr. Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr and received chamber music coaching from the Verdehr Trio – pioneers of the violin, clarinet, and piano trio. He earned his BM and MM degrees in music performance from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama – one of Great Britain’s premiere conservatories, where he took lessons from distinguished soloist Joy Farrall, Andrew Webster of the English National Opera, and celebrated recording artist Dame Thea King. He took e-flat clarinet lessons from the Philharmonia’s Jennifer Mclaren, and was privileged to receive training under conductors such as Sir Colin Davis and Pierrre Boulez, and in rehearsal with the Royal Philharmonic and London Symphony orchestras. An accomplished ensemble musician, Jonathan is now Principal Clarinetist of the West Shore Symphony Orchestra, a frequent guest of the Grand Rapids, Sarasota, and Mississippi symphony orchestras, and a former member of the Kalamazoo and Traverse symphony orchestras. He has performed with numerous other ensembles including the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, and the Mobile Symphony.
Beyond his enthusiasm for the orchestra, Jonathan is an ardent chamber musician and soloist. He made his concerto debut at the age of seventeen and has since performed concert solos at numerous venues in Britain and the United States. His most recent presentation of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, for which he received standing ovations, was described in the Muskegon Chronicle as an “exquisite, eloquent performance.” Jonathan has won first prize in several competitions including the Clarinet & Saxophone Society of Great Britain Competition and the Michigan State University Honors Competition, and was a semi-finalist in the prestigious Carl Nielsen Third International Clarinet Competition. He has accepted invitations to play at various music conferences and festivals including the Second British Clarinet Congress, the Paris Conservatoire’s Plus Six festival, and a conference of the College Music Society. Among the chamber works he most frequently enjoys performing are those of Brahms and Mozart; this month, he will join the Degas Quartet in two performances of Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet by invitation of Chamber Music Wilmington and The American Music Festival. The performances will take place on Oct 23rd and 25th in Morehead City and Wilmington, North Carolina.
Jonathan is also a proponent of new and modern music. He has prepared chamber music performances for, and under the guidance of, composers such as Bright Sheng, Peter Sculthorp, Alan Hovhaness, and Ricardo Tachuchian; and has premiered solo works by Anders Koppel and Gregory Hutter. Jonathan is a member of Category 5 – the resident wind quintet at the University of Southern Mississippi, who last year completed a tour of Brazil giving performances and masterclasses for numerous arts organizations and universities. Category 5 will soon begin their tour of the southern USA, performing at schools and universities in Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma, during which time they will present to composer Dr. James Wintle one of his own works for wind quintet.
Jonathan has served on the faculty of Hope College, Michigan, and is now Assistant Professor of Clarinet at the University of Southern Mississippi.