FRIDAY, MAY 27 at 3 p.m. - NUTT AUDITORIUM
Lecture-demonstartion by 3-time world champion BRIAN HOLLAND entitled "Playing Second Fiddle to Everyone."
Brian Holland is an internationally-renowned pianist, composer, recording artist, and entertainer who has enjoyed a music career spanning more than 40 years. Brian spent his formative youth playing in pizza parlors and clubs throughout Indiana and the Midwest. In 1999, he won his third consecutive title in the World Old-Time Piano Playing Championships, and was retired from competition.
Brian has performed with some of the hottest jazz bands in the US – Holland-Coots Jazz Quintet, Big B.A.D. Rhythm, GROOVUS, Holland-Coots Swingin’ West, and others – and has traveled all over the world performing his creative styles of jazz, ragtime, stride, swing, boogie, and blues.
Brian has multiple solo and ensemble recordings to his credit (available at www.shanesmohawk.com), and earned a Grammy nomination for his work with Bud Dresser on their 2006 album, “Ragtime-Goodtime-Jazz”.
From 2015-2020, Brian served as the Artistic Director for the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival (Sedalia, MO). He is currently Co-Creative Consultant for the Monterey Jazz Bash by the Bay (Monterey, CA), as well as Artistic Director for the Central Pennsylvania Ragtime and American Music Festival (Orbisonia, PA).
“Brian Holland has to be one of the fastest, cleanest players anywhere today. Every note, no matter how swift, is as sparkling clear as Waterford crystal. His touch is assured and he makes even the most complex passages sound easy.”
– Jack Rummel, prominent reviewer & performer
“Brian Holland’s lightening-fast left hand bangs out a clean, steady rhythm while his right hand skitters up and down the keyboard rendering the melody in thick chords. Watching his energy and dexterity is narcotic.”
– The New York Sun
