John Ivor Holland

I was born in Hastings in 1977, but was raised in Watford, Hertfordshire. After meeting my partner, Chris, I moved to south London in 2004; we’re now in a civil partnership and happily settled down in Royal Wootton Bassett, having moved out of London during the pandemic.

My composing career took off when my chamber orchestra piece ‘Green Sky’ won the Making Music Award at the British Composer Awards 2008. The piece has been played on a number of occasions since and also broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

In 2009, the world premiere of my largest work, ‘Requiem (Opus 15)’ took place at All Saints Church, West Dulwich (conducted by Penny Whittingham) and January 2010 saw the first performance of ‘The Something In-Between’, an Oboe/Cor Anglais mini-concerto, written for and performed by Isobel Williams (conducted by Lindsay Ryan).

The London Saxophone Choir have presented new pieces of mine over the last few years, including ‘Mission: Improbable’ and, most recently, ‘Fanfaricus’. Numerous works for chamber orchestra have been performed and recorded by the London Contemporary Chamber Orchestra, notably ‘Hustle Bustle’, ‘Elegy for my father’ and, most recently, ‘Arise my love, my fair one, and come away’.

I have helped to bring about numerous pieces of new music as a commissioner. Through the latter part of 2013 and early 2014, I worked alongside composer Stephen McNeff as co-commissioner of a brand new work for Flute and Band, specifically designed with amateur players in mind; this piece, ‘Concerto for Flute and Wind Orchestra’, is now published by Maecenas Music. In 2023, I commissioned Stephen again to compose a Concert for Saxophone Quartet and Band, which is in preparation for publication. 

In my spare time, when not composing, arranging or working for RADA, I also play trombone/euphonium, the whole clarinet and saxophone family and percussion – I pop up in all sorts of weird and wonderful places!