Michael Holmes (born 1982) is an American classical

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

, originally from

Findlay, Ohio Findlay ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Ohio, United States. The second-largest city in Northwest Ohio, Findlay lies about 40 miles (64 km) south of Toledo, Ohio, Toledo. The population was 40,313 at the 2020 United St ...

. Holmes' degrees are from

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized programs and research facilities in the ...

(B.M.E.) and the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

(M.M. and D.M.A.). His main teachers included

John Sampen John Sampen (born 1949) is an American classical saxophonist. Sampen's degrees are from Northwestern University (B.M., 1971; M.M., 1972; and Doctor of Music, 1984). His teachers included Frederick Hemke, Larry Teal, and Donald Sinta. He has served ...

and

Debra Richtmeyer Debra Richtmeyer is an American classical saxophonist born June 19, 1957, in Lansing, Michigan. Richtmeyer earned her B.M.E. and M.M. at Northwestern University, where she studied with Frederick L. Hemke. She is Professor of Saxophone at the Un ...

, and has had additional studies with

Jean-Marie Londeix Jean-Marie Londeix (20 September 1932) is a French saxophonist born in Libourne who studied saxophone, piano, harmony and chamber music.Ingham, Richard (ed.)''The Cambridge Companion to the Saxophone'' Cambridge University Press (1998) p. 169. Umb ...

Claude Delangle Claude Delangle (born 1957) is a French classical saxophonist. He has been teaching saxophone at the National Superior Conservatory of Music of Paris since 1988. He played in " Quatuor Adolphe Sax Paris" with Jacques Baguet, Bruno Totaro and Je ...

, Griffin Campbell, Daniel Kientzy, and Eugene Rousseau. Michael is Artist-Teacher of Saxophone as-well-as Head of Woodwinds at

Roosevelt University Roosevelt University is a private university with campuses in Chicago and Schaumburg, Illinois. Founded in 1945, the university was named in honor of United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The unive ...

Chicago College of Performing Arts Chicago College of Performing Arts is a performing arts college that is housed at Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois, United States. While the school is officially a part of Roosevelt University, it has its own distinct personality. The re ...

. He was formerly on faculty at the

, the

College of Wooster The College of Wooster is a private liberal arts college in Wooster, Ohio. Founded in 1866 by the Presbyterian Church as the University of Wooster, it has been officially non-sectarian since 1969 when ownership ties with the Presbyterian Church ...

, and

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

. Holmes also held positions as Director of Product

Marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

for

Saxophones The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pro ...

Conn-Selmer Conn-Selmer, Inc. is an American manufacturer of musical instruments for concert bands, marching bands and orchestras. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Steinway Musical Instruments and was formed in 2003 by combining the Steinway properties, T ...

and Artistic Advisor and Product Specialist for

Vandoren Vandoren is a manufacturer of mouthpieces, reeds, and accessories for the clarinet and saxophone families. History Vandoren was founded in 1905 by Eugène Van Doren (1873-1940), a clarinetist for the Paris Opera. The original location was eventua ...

. Holmes has received international acclaim as an

orchestral An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

, and has performed as principal saxophonist with numerous

orchestras An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

including the

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenure ...

, the

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Sev ...

, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the

Hong Kong Philharmonic The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (Cantonese: 香港管弦樂團), commonly abbreviated as HKPO or HKPhil (Cantonese: 港樂), is the largest symphony orchestra in Hong Kong. First established in 1947 as an amateur orchestra under the name Si ...

, the Peninsula Music Festival Orchestra, the

Columbus Symphony Orchestra The Columbus Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Columbus, Ohio. The oldest performing arts organization in the city, its home is the Ohio Theatre. The orchestra's current Executive Director is Denise Rehg. Ross ...

, the

Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra The Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The orchestra's primary concert venues are the Embassy Theatre and the Auer Performance Hall at Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPF ...

, Sinfonia da Camera, the Toledo Repertoire Theatre, and the Champaign-Urbana Symphony.

Partial discography

, Prokofiev: Suite from Romeo and Juliet -

CSO Resound In April 2007, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association launched CSO Resound, its in-house record label. All recordings have been made live in concert in Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center, and a complete list of releases, chronological by recordi ...

*SORI CD - Aucourant Records *World Without Words - Mark Records *Music from SEAMUS, volume 16 -

Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States The Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) is a nonprofit US-based organization founded in 1984 that aims to promote the performance and creation of electro-acoustic music in the United States. In particular, the organizat ...

*Celestial Dancers, Philharmonia à Vent Ensemble - Klavier Records

External links

Michael Holmes official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Michael Classical saxophonists American classical saxophonists American male saxophonists Place of birth missing (living people) Living people 1982 births Contemporary classical music performers 21st-century American saxophonists 21st-century American male musicians Bowling Green State University alumni