DR. ROBERT HOLM
Assistant Professor of Piano
biography - concert reviews
Robert Holm is an Assistant Professor of
Music at the University of South Alabama, where he teaches
private piano, coordinates class piano instruction and
serves as staff accompanist. In addition to his university
duties, Dr. Holm is president of the Mobile Music Teachers
Association and pianist for the Mobile Symphony Orchestra
and at Dauphin Way Baptist Church.
Holm began playing the piano at age five and later studied
at the University of Illinois School of Music with Professor
Kenneth Drake, where, in1999, he graduated with a Doctor
of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Literature. A
finalist in the December 2003 International Franz Liszt
Competition in Grottammare, Italy, he was also a finalist
at the 2002 International Bartók-Kabalevsky-Prokofiev
Competition in Radford, Virginia and Third Prize winner
at the 1997 International Beethoven Piano Sonata Competition
in Memphis, Tennessee.
Dr. Holm has appeared as soloist performing Gershwin’s Rhapsody
in Bluewith the Mobile Symphony Orchestra, the Mobile Symphony Pops Band, the University
of South Alabama Symphony Band and the Pt. Loma Nazarene College Concert Band.
In 2001, he performed Concerto No. 1 in E-flat by Liszt with the Mobile Symphony
Orchestra under the direction of guest conductor Apo Hsu. Dr. Holm has performed
as soloist and collaborative artist throughout the United States, including appearances
at Carnegie (Weill) Hall, the Saint Paul’s United Methodist Concert Series
in Coronado, California, the Nagamichi Concert Series at Stonehill College, Massachusetts,
the Freeport, Illinois Community Concert Series, and regularly at the Eastern
Shore Concert Series, Fairhope, Alabama Concert Series and at the Mobile Symphony
Chamber Music Series.
Dr. Holm has performed collaboratively with saxophonist Dr. Tracy Heavner at
the World Saxophone Congress in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with flutist Dr. Andra
Bohnet and soprano Dr. Kathryn Barnes-Burroughs at the Mississippi Music Teachers
State Convention at Jones Junior College and at the National Flute Association
Convention in Washington, D.C. Solo recitals have been given at the University
of Southern Mississippi, Pt. Loma Nazarene University in California, Northeastern
State University in Oklahoma, Ball State University in Indiana and Pensacola
Junior College in Florida. In March 2004, Holm will begin an eight-recital series
featuring the thirty-two sonatas by Beethoven.
Performance Reviews
Mobile Press Register, February 11, 2001, 2A
Review by Thomas B. Harrison
“…a gifted Mobilian who more than
lived up to his reputation for piano artistry.”
“(Holm) gave an extraordinary interpretation of
Liszt’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, No.
1 in E-flat.”
“…a dual showcase for (Apo) Hsu and Holm,
who leapt into the work (Liszt’s Concerto for
Piano and Orchestra, No. 1 in E-flat) with an intensity that
might’ve pleased the colorful Franz himself.”
Mobile Press Register, August 26, 2002, 2A
Review by Thomas B. Harrison
“…(Holm) proved adept at keeping pace with
this decidedly up-tempo rendition of Gershwin’s signature
work (Rhapsody in Blue).”
“(Gershwin’s) Rhapsody was both rapid and
rapturous…Holm’s performance emphasized the
improvisational quality that runs throughout…”
