Sam Holland is a Professor of Music and Associate Director for Academic Affairs of the Division of Music at Southern Methodist University Meadows School of the Arts. He holds degrees in performance from The University of Texas and the University of Houston where he studied with John Perry and Abbey Simon, respectively. He received the Certificate in Piano Pedagogy from the New School for Music Study under Frances Clark and a Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Holland has co-authored over fifty critically acclaimed books with the school's founders, Frances Clark and Louise Goss. His articles have appeared in journals in the US and abroad and he is the author of Teaching Toward Tomorrow: a Music Teacher's Primer for Using Keyboards, Computers, and MIDI in the Studio as well as the new 30-volume Frederick Harris Celebrate Composers series. Dr. Holland has presented hundreds of concerts and lectures throughout North America, Australia, and Europe. He was named the Texas Music Teachers Association Collegiate Teacher of the Year in 2006. He has two grown children - one a newspaper reporter, the other studying to be an industrial engineer. He now lives in suburban Dallas with his wife, Bethany, a professional cellist; 12-year old son, Eli, a veteran baseball pitcher; and the best dog in the world - a yellow Lab named Race.
Sam Holland
Meadows School of the Arts
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, TX 75275
214.768.2544
sholland@smu.edu
I know of no other individual of any age or background who has made a more profound or distinguished impact on the disciplines of piano performance, piano pedagogy, and piano teaching in the last quarter century than Marvin Blickenstaff.
In a career that has now entered its fifth decade, Marvin Blickenstaff has distinguished himself not only as a performing artist, an artist/teacher, a method author, a lecturer and clinician, but as a great human being and a compassionate leader. In all these categories, there is no one more respected and beloved than Marvin Blickenstaff. Few can perform in the world's great concert halls one day, give a workshop to local piano teachers in the hinterlands the next, write a method book the next, and manage an international conference the next. Yet, Marvin Blickenstaff has done this and more for four decades with little sign of slowing down.
As the record shows, he has performed on three continents in major cities to high critical praise. He has held teaching appointments in important institutions including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Goshen College, and the College of New Jersey. He has led hundreds of workshops for pianists and piano teachers throughout the world. Music Pathways, the method series he co-authored, is a landmark accomplishment in progressive music education that broke new ground in its approach to developing skills in music apprreciation, music reading, performance practice, keyboard theory, and technique. The Celebration Series: Handbook for Teachers is a monumental compendium of pedagogical and contextual commentary that is used by teachers and students throughout North America. His editions of Bach, Beethoven, and Grieg are thoughtfully prepared and carefully researched.
Since his appointment in 2000 as President of the Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy, Mr. Blickenstaff has taken the helm of one of the most influential positions in the field of music pedagogy. As President, he serves as the senior executive of the New School for Music Study, as a principal planner for the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, and the executive publisher of Keyboard Companion magazine. Thus, he plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of keyboard music in our culture and throughout the world.
I have to admit that when Marvin became President of the Frances Clark Center, I did not know him personally. Of course, I was well aware of and duly impressed by his credentials. But, in the intervening seven years and the combination of vision and sweat that we have poured into the Frances Clark Center, I am proud to say that we have developed a close professional friendship, one that I treasure. Almost every Friday morning at 8:00AM, I pick up the phone and dial a conference call with Marvin and Louise Goss. Often we talk for up to two hours about the field of piano teaching and the role of the Frances Clark Center in advancing our profession. Details of the National Conference are hashed out. The magazine, the New School, the Board, the website, the staff, our graduates, our students and more all figure in that call. But, take away the surface and the day-to-day concerns, and what emerges is a feeling of privilege to be in the presence of Marvin (and, of course, Louise). Never in my life have I known a more selfless person or a more generous spirit than Marvin Blickenstaff. Not only the talent and accomplishment, but the love he exudes for music and the joy of teaching music is unique. If you were to arrive for the National Conference two or three days early, you might very well encounter Marvin somewhere in the hotel with his sleeves rolled up carrying boxes around. He is a person that does what needs to be done when it needs to be done. But, the thing that would strike you the most (after you got over the notion that it's Marvin Blickenstaff carrying boxes around), is the smile with which he does it. Why are there so few people like that today?
Marvin would be the first to say that computer technology does not come natrually to him. But, if you were able to peer into his computer and count the number of sent and received messages as he labors to organize the program for the Conference, I'm sure it would number in the tens of thousands. The volume is staggering. If, however, you were the recipient of one of those messages, you would feel the warmth, the respect, and the attention to detail that Marvin invests in even the smallest human interaction. And therein lies the most wondrous and ineffable attribute of this great man - the reason, if one can be named, for his belovedness throughout our field. I have often wished I could begin life all over again as his piano student.
Few individuals' life work is so influential that it can be said to have changed a discipline, even helped to chart the course for a discipline. That can easily and truly be said of Marvin Blickenstaff's accomplishments. His accomplishments have dwarfed those of most who have earned doctorates and held more prestigious positions because of his immense talent, his tireless labor, his undying love, and his indomitable spirit. I can think of no one more completely deserving of a special tribute than Marvin Blickenstaff and I feel blessed to have a part in it.
Photo: Marvin Blickenstaff, National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, 2005
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