BIO

 

Violinist and violist Holland Phillips has served as the principal violist of the Eugene Symphony Orchestra since 2009. Reviewers have praised the “spirit and clear tone” of her playing (Leipziger Volkszeitung) and the “serious intensity” that she brings to performances (Register-Guard). Ms. Phillips currently performs as violinist and violist with the Oregon-based ensembles Chamber Music Amici, TARDIS Ensemble, Oregon Mozart Players, Eugene Opera, and Oregon Bach Festival. She has performed in music festivals and conferences in North America and Europe, and during the 2012 summer season, performed with the Chintimini Chamber Music Festival (Corvallis, OR) as a violinist and the Sunriver Music Festival (Sunriver, OR) as a violist. She has been an active recitalist, as well as an orchestral and chamber musician since age 14 and has performed in such venues as Boston’s Jordan Hall, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus (Germany), and Leeds Town Hall (UK). Ms. Phillips has also been invited to perform and present research papers at regional and national conferences, including SEAMUS (Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States), SASS (Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study), and MTNA (Music Teachers National Association). She has also appeared as soloist with orchestras in Massachusetts, Oregon, and in her home state, Mississippi.

 

 

An avid enthusiast of Danish composer Carl Nielsen’s music, Ms. Phillips has performed all of Nielsen’s compositions for violin. Her passion for Nielsen’s music led her to pursue a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in violin performance with a secondary focus in musicology from the University of Oregon where she was able to concurrently take coursework in Scandinavian languages and literature. She won the 2008 University of Oregon Concerto Competition with Nielsen’s Violin Concerto and competed at the 2008 International Carl Nielsen Violin Competition in Odense, Denmark. In 2012 Ms. Phillips completed her doctoral studies under former ESO concertmaster Kathryn Lucktenberg. Her dissertation, “Tidens Fylde: Temporality and Tradition in Carl Nielsen’s Works for Violin,” directed by Dr. Marian Smith, included a complete translation from Danish to English of Emil Telmányi’s monograph “Vejledning til Indstudering og Fortolkning af Carl Nielsens Violinværker og Kvintet for Strygere [Guide to the Study and Interpretation of Carl Nielsen’s Violin Works and Quintet for Strings].” Ms. Phillips earned her Bachelor of Music degree from Vanderbilt University, where she graduated summa cum laude studying under Cornelia Heard. She also holds graduate degrees with honors from the New England Conservatory, where she studied with violinist James Buswell, and in viola performance from the University of Oregon, where she studied under Dr. Leslie Straka.

 

 

Ms. Phillips has held teaching positions at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts and the Milton Public Schools in Milton, Massachusetts. She is currently an adjunct instructor of chamber music for the Community Music Institute Chamber Players program at the University of Oregon and maintains a small private teaching studio in Eugene. She lives in Eugene with her husband, Josh, and their dog and two cats.