Leonie Holmes | |
---|---|
Born | 1962 Auckland |
Nationality | New Zealand |
Occupation(s) | Composer, university lecturer |
Leonie Joyce Holmes (born 1962) is a New Zealand composer and lecturer at the University of Auckland with an interest in music education.
Holmes was born in Auckland in 1962. [1] [2] She began learning piano at age six and attended Pakuranga College. She studied at the University of Auckland from 1981 to 1985, graduating with MMus in composition. [2] Her teachers were Douglas Mews, John Rimmer and John Elmsly. [2]
She played the violin in the Auckland Youth Orchestra. [2]
In 1983–1985 Holmes attended the Nelson Young Composers' Workshops and was its first composer-in-residence in 1986. [2] In 1989 she took up a position of Composer-in-Schools working in several Auckland schools. [2] [3] She has been Composer-in-Residence with the Auckland Philharmonia in 1997 and with the Manukau Symphony Orchestra in 2005. [3] In 2001 she received the Philip Neill Memorial Prize in Composition from the University of Otago.
Holmes has an interest in music education and has written for schools and community groups. [3] She writes for orchestras, chamber groups, choirs, solo voice and instruments, and her works have been performed internationally. [3]
Holmes has written a number of works on commission. [3] For Just a Little Moment was commissioned by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and premiered by the orchestra during a COVID-19 lockdown in November 2020. [4] Holmes's Piano Concerto was commissioned by the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra who performed its first public premiere in October 2023. It had been recorded earlier by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. [5] [6]
As at 2021 she is a senior lecturer in composition at the University of Auckland. [7]
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