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Contact Information:
Administrative Assistant: 
Becky Baptist
(970) 943-3093
fax: (970) 943-2329
E-mail: bbaptist@western.edu

Department Chair:
Robert Barrett
(970) 943-3023

E-mail: rbarrett@western.edu

Address:
Music Department
Quigley Hall 101
Western State Colorado University
600 N. Adams St.
Gunnison, CO  81231

 

Honor Band Conductor

David HolsingerDavid Holsinger

Professor of Music
Lee University
Cleveland, Tennessee

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.