Musical Director
Ronald W. Holz
Professor of Music Literature and Instrumental Music
Asbury University, Wilmore, KY 40390
Dr. Ronald Holz currently holds the position of Professor of Music Literature and Instrumental Music at Asbury University, Wilmore, KY, where he has taught since 1981. He is a noted music historian, writer, conductor, lecturer, and clinician, particularly in the fields of brass and wind music. His guest appearances have taken him throughout the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and Scandinavia. He is considered one of the world’s leading authorities on the literature, culture, and history of the British-style brass band.
Holz has written several critically acclaimed books in the area of band history, including Erik Leidzen: Band Arranger and Composer and a history of the New York Staff Band – Heralds of Victory. His latest book project, a two-volume Brass Bands of the Salvation Army: Their Music and Mission, is being published by SP&S, Ltd. (London, England). His scholarly articles and reviews have appeared in such publications Journal of Band Research, Brass Band World, The British Bandsman, and the New Groves’ Dictionary of Music and Musicians. He is frequently asked write scholarly compact disc program notes for internationally-famous brass bands on such labels as Doyen, Polyphonic, Egon–SP&S, and Triumphonic. These groups include outstanding ensembles such as the Black Dyke Band, Grimethorpe Colliery Band, YBS Band, New York Staff Band, and the International Staff Band.
Dr. Holz is the conductor of the Asbury University Orchestra, the Salvation Army Student Fellowship Brass Band of Asbury University, and the Lexington Brass Band. He has brought the Lexington Brass Band to international prominence in a very short period of time. This ensemble has given invitational concerts at such events as The Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, The International Trumpet Guild annual conference, and the All England Masters Brass Band Championships, Cambridge, England. At the North American Brass Band Association’s April 2000 conference Dr. Ronald Holz, Ph.D., received that organization’s highest honor, the Lifetime Achievement Award, for his service to NABBA: Contest Controller (15 years), Brass Band Bridge Editor (4 years), and two terms each as President and Vice President.
His graduate training in historical musicology (M.M. and Ph.D.) was completed at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the University of Connecticut. At Asbury University he served as Chairman of the Division of Fine Arts from 1985—1991. Holz coordinates the chamber music, music history, and composition/arranging curricula at the four-year, Christian, liberal arts university. Holz holds positions on the boards of several music organizations, including The North American Brass Band Association, and serves as a member of the Editorial Review Committee of the International Trumpet Guild.
