Contemporary Classical Composer
Sandy Holder was raised in Louisville, Kentucky where she studied piano and voice at the Youth Performing Arts High School. She began her career as a freelance pianist at the age of 14 and was awarded a scholarship from the University of Kentucky to study with David Doran. She received a Bachelor's of Music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where she studied with Russian pianist Lidia Frumkin. Ms. Holder moved to Eugene, Oregon in 1989 and completed a Masters of Music degree at the University of Oregon where she studied with pianist and composer Victor Steinhardt. She has worked with the Eugene Symphony, the Eugene Opera, the Oregon Symphony, the Van Ummersen Dance Company, Eugene Children's Choir and the Oregon Festival of American Music. Ms. Holder has performed in numerous recitals, in the Eugene area, at the University of Oregon School of Music and Lane Community College. Ms. Holder is an avid supporter of new music and has performed in the Music Today Festival of Eugene, conferences of the American Musicological Society, the College Music Society, the Millennial Marathon Concert and the Seventh Species Concert Scries. She was involved in the premiere of Robert Kyr's Symphony No. 9 "The Spirit of Time" performed by the Eugene Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Holder has premiered and/or made professional recordings of works by many Oregon composers including Andrew Sauerwein, Mark Vigil, Rob Hutchinson, David York, Matt Svoboda and Bernard Scherr. Ms. Holder continues to live in Eugene as a piano instructor, a freelance pianist and an award-winning folk singer/songwriter.