嘿嘿视频

Maestro Holoman changes the tempo

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Conductor D. Kern Holoman
FINALE: Professor D. Kern Holoman, longtime conductor of the 嘿嘿视频 Symphony Orchestra, plans to retire in June.

D. Kern Holoman arrived at 嘿嘿视频 in 1973 as a 26-year-old acting assistant music professor with big ideas.

Like performing the Berlioz Requiem. A 90-minute piece for more than 200 instruments and more than 200 choral singers, the piece was extremely ambitious for a novice conductor and a small university symphony. Holoman, filling in for the symphony director for a season, was determined to try it anyway.

In 1976, with instruments and voices borrowed from California State University, Sacramento, he conducted a 嘿嘿视频-Sacramento State orchestra and chorus in Requiem performances in Freeborn Hall and the Sacramento Community Center Theater.

"Nobody said, 鈥榊ou can鈥檛 do that,鈥 or 鈥榊ou must be crazy.鈥 No one said 鈥楴o,鈥 鈥 Holoman recalled. 鈥淚鈥檓 very grateful to the institution for that. I鈥檝e always felt like I owe the institution more than I could ever, ever repay.鈥

Holoman has given back in countless ways throughout his 35-year tenure at 嘿嘿视频: Besides conducting the Symphony Orchestra for 30 years, he served as chair of the music department, interim chair of the drama department, and founding dean of the Division of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies. He taught undergraduate and graduate students, wrote nine critically ac-claimed books, founded the Early Music Ensemble, launched the journal 19th-Century Music, worked tirelessly to make the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts a reality, and established himself as one of the foremost Berlioz scholars of our age.

When a Swiss student pulled a musty manuscript from a shelf at a Geneva conservatory in 1983, Holoman authenticated it as a long-lost Berlioz composition. Holoman was entrusted with preparing the 1830 score in modern notation, and he led the 嘿嘿视频 Symphony in the first performance of the work鈥攐n March 3, 1985, in Freeborn Hall.

Holoman earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in music at Duke University and M.F.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton University. He is a former Woodrow Wilson fellow and Fulbright-Hays fellow, as well as a research fellow of the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 1995, he received the 嘿嘿视频 Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and Scholarly Achievement. In 2000, he became the Barbara K. Jackson Professor of Music at 嘿嘿视频.

On Nov. 23, Holoman is scheduled to lead the 嘿嘿视频 Symphony for the last time as its fourth conductor. He will spend a year in France finishing two books, then continue to conduct occasionally after he returns to campus.

An international search for his replacement has begun.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been a good run, both for the orchestra and its fourth conductor,鈥 Holoman wrote in the program notes for the Nov. 23 concert.

鈥淚n the nostalgic moments, I think most of all about college students routinely achieving, individually and collectively, art and beauty of which none of us knew we were capable. 鈥 There鈥檚 no lack of fond memories, and the good times will continue.鈥

Audio and video recordings of Holoman鈥檚 concerts, including the 1976 Requiem, are available online: .
 

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Dave Jones, Dateline, 530-752-6556, dljones@ucdavis.edu

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