James Holland, cello

    James Holland earned a Bachelor of Music Degree in cello performance from the University of Alabama and a Master of Music degree in from the Eastman School of Music, where he served as a teaching assistant to Pamela Frame. He studied with such cellists as Orlando Cole, Eleonore Schoenfeld, Timothy Eddy, and Stephen Geber during the summer at the Brevard Music Center, the ENCORE School for Strings, the Quartet Program, and the Kent/Blossom Music Festival. He also performed in master classes for Janos Starker, Joseph Silverstein, Lynn Harrell, Gary Hoffman, and Philip Setzer of the Emerson String Quartet, among others.
    Upon completion of his Master's degree, Holland was invited to become a member of the Miami-based New World Symphony, where he performed, toured, and recorded under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas for two years. Afterward, he returned to Alabama for two years of doctoral study.
    In 1996, Holland became Principal Cellist of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and cellist of the Charleston Symphony String Quartet, a position he held until 2007. He also played with the Charleston Chamber Players and was a featured performer in the Spotlight Chamber Music Series of the Piccolo Spoleto Festival. 
    In New Mexico, Holland has performed with the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, the Santa Fe Symphony, Chatter, the Albuquerque Chamber Soloists,  the Figueroa Project, Santa Fe New Music, and Santa Fe Pro-Musica. Other significant performing credentials have included a tour of Japan with the University of Alabama Piano Trio, principal cellist with the Spoleto Festival Orchestras of the US and Italy, the Music at Penn's Woods Orchestra in State College, PA, the Orchestra of the Californias's two-week tour of California and Mexico, and the Breckenridge Music Festival. 
   Holland maintains a large and active private cello studio and, with his wife Megan, heads the strings program at Sandia Preparatory School. He was named 2011 Teacher of the Year by the New Mexico chapter of the American String Teachers Association.