Leonie Joyce Holmes (born 1962) is a New Zealand composer and lecturer at the University of Auckland with an interest in music education.
Leonie Holmes | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1962 Auckland |
| Nationality | New Zealand |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, university lecturer |
Early life and education
editHolmes 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]
Career
editIn 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]
Selected works
edit- Nonette for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn and string quartet (1984)
- Fantasia II for piano (1986)
- Four epigrams: for mandolin ensemble (1987)
- Recitative II for viola and percussion (1991)
- The estuary: for SSA choir and piano (1993) – words: A.R.D. Fairburn
- Colloquium: two flutes and guitar (1993)
- Seconds: for string orchestra (1994)
- Three songs for baritone and piano (1997)
- Chorale for brass sextet (1997)
- Silver whispers: choral suite in five movements (2004) – words: Marnie Barrell
- Tango mangle: for orchestra (2007)
- The fourth station: for solo cello (2008)
- Fanfare for Manukau: for orchestra (2008)
- Through coiled stillness (2011) – text: Leonie Holmes and Robert Wiremu
- Nocturne for solo piano (2011)
- A tedious brief scene, Bottom's dance (2011)
- Solstice (2013)
- Land pictures: for women's voices and harp (2015) – words: Anne Powell
- Where the tui sings three notes (2015) – text: Tessa Stephens
- Whim: for orchestra (2015)
- Ritual: for wind quintet (2016)
- Fragment II: for string quartet (2016)
- Dance of the Wintersmith: for violin and piano (2017)
- Murmuration: for three violins (2019)
- For Just a Little Moment (2020)[4]
- Piano Concerto (2022)
References
edit- ^ "Holmes, Leonie, 1962-". tiaki.natlib.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f Thomson, John Mansfield (1990). Biographical dictionary of New Zealand composers. Wellington [N.Z.]: Victoria University Press. pp. 79–80. ISBN 0-86473-095-0. OCLC 22895790.
- ^ a b c d e "SOUNZ Leonie Holmes". sounz.org.nz. Archived from the original on 2 August 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
- ^ a b "Leonie Holmes: For Just A Little Moment". RNZ. 18 January 2021. Archived from the original on 28 July 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
- ^ "Leonie Holmes and the blessings of procrastination". RNZ. 12 October 2023. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
- ^ "Piano Concerto". www.sounz.org.nz. 2022. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
- ^ "Dr Leonie Holmes - The University of Auckland". www.creative.auckland.ac.nz. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2021.