Bernard Peabody Holland, III (born 1933) is an American music critic. He served on the staff of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' from 1981 until 2008 and held the post of chief music critic from 1995, contributing 4,575 articles to the newspaper. He then became the National Music Critic, reviewing concerts, festivals and hall openings worldwide. Holland was born in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

, and studied literature and philosophy as an undergraduate at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

. After studies in piano and composition at the

Vienna Academy of Music The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university established in 1817 located in Vienna. With a student body of over three thousand, it is the largest institution of its kind in Austria, and one of t ...

and the

Paris Conservatory The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

he worked as a piano teacher. Before joining the staff of ''The New York Times'', he was a freelance critic and music writer for the ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving Greater Pittsburgh, metropolitan Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the fi ...

'' from 1979 to 1980.Druckenbrod, Andrew
"Holland to retire"
''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', 15 May 2008. Accessed 9 February 2010. In 2016, Holland's book, ''Something I Heard'', was published. The book is a collection of essays and reviews from his almost 30-year career.

References

1933 births Living people American music critics The New York Times journalists Conservatoire de Paris alumni University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna alumni University of Virginia alumni Carnegie Mellon University faculty American male journalists 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American male writers Writers from Norfolk, Virginia Journalists from Virginia {{US-journalist-1930s-stub