Holdridge, Lee (3rd March 1944-Present)

He is a composer, orchestrator, arranger, musician and conductor born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti whose father was a climatologist and botanist. When he was 10 years old he lived with his family in Costa Rica and took studies in the violin with the conductor and composer Hugo Mariani. A few years later he studied composition with the music teacher Henry Lasker and finished his high school studies in Boston before taking further music studies in New York.

In New York he began his life as a professional composer and wrote music in many different genres ranging from rock music, songs, music for the theatre and short films to chamber works. During his time his work came to the notice of the singer Neil Diamond and he moved to Los Angeles to write music for him.

His work for Neil Diamond saw him writing for several of his albums with some gold and platinum hits and collaborating with him on the score for the Grammy Award winning film Jonathan Livingston Seagull. There were some problems on this film with regard to the musical credits as Neil Diamond hadn’t wanted to share the credits, but it was ruled in Lee Holdridge’s favour by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences.

He went on to work as a composer and orchestrator on many more films and television series from the early 1970s onwards. He has also recorded and performed his own music in concerts with some of the pieces being his suite from the opera Lazarus and His Beloved, Serenade for Oboe and Strings, Sonnet for Soprano and orchestra, Concerto for Viola and Chamber Orchestra and Elegy for Strings and Harp.

His work in opera includes the Los Angeles Opera’s one act in-school operas The Prospector, The Magic Dream and Journey to Cordoba, which has has seen more than 100 performances of Journey to Cordoba at the California State University. He has also written the one-act operas Concierto Para Mendez and Tanis in America. His first full length opera, Dulce Rosa, was premiered by the Los Angeles Opera conducted by Placido Domingo in 2013 and has since been performed in Spanish in Montivideo, Uruguay in its South American premiere.

During his career he has been nominated for many Emmy Awards for his work as a composer from the 1980s and won in 1988 and 1989 for his work on Beauty and the Beast TV series and in 2000 and 2005 for his work on the series One Life to Live. He also won a Sports Emmy Award in 1998 for Atlanta’s Olympic Glory and two News and Documentary Emmy Awards in 1988 and 1991. Other awards he has received are the 1988 ASCAP Award for his music for the TV series Moonlighting.

He has worked with numerous recording artists and some of the recordings he has worked and/or performed on include his own Holdridge Conducts Holdridge and Gerhardt Conducts Holdridge with the London Symphony Orchestra and Lee Holdridge Conducts The Music of John Denver along with In Your Eyes by George Benson, Careless by Stephen Bishop, Midstream/Debby Boone by Debby Boone, Merry Christmas by Jose Carreras, Fantastic Journey by Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and Erich Kunzel, 100 Greatest Western Themes by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, Holly & Ivy by Natalie Cole, Hard Time for Lovers by Judy Collins, Delta Lady: The Rita Coolidge Anthology by Rita Coolidge, Whistling Down the Wire by Crosby & Nash, A Christmas Story and Country Roads Collection by John Denver, Touching You Touching Me, Tap Root Manuscript, Stones and Hot August Night by Neil Diamond, Perhaps Love and My Life for a Song by Placido Domingo, The Very Best of.. by Yvonne Elliman, Arthur Fiedler Legacy: Superstars and Songbooks – Pops and Arrangement by Arthur Fiedler, The Best Of… by Crystal Gayle, Whitney by Whitney Houston, Best of… by Al Jarreau, Baby I Love You/Andy Kim by Andy Kim, Greatest Hits 1973-1985 by Gladys Knight, I’m Not the Same Girl by Stacy Lattisaw, Gord’s Gold by Gordon Lightfoot, In Your Eyes by Mary MacGregor, Candles in the Rain by Melanie, Together by Anne Murray, I’ve Gotta Be Me/Summer of ’42 by Peter Nero, Christmas Favorites from the World’s Favorite Tenors by Luciano Pavarotti, Love Language by Teddy Pendergrass, The Collection: Their Greatest Hits & Finest Performances by Peter, Paul and Mary, I Am Woman/Long Hard Climb by Helen Reddy, The Solo Albums, Vol. 3 by Smokey Robinson, Ross by Diana Ross, Takin’ It Easy by Seals and Crofts, Emergence by Neil Sedaka, Butterfly and Emotion by Barbra Streisand, The Ultimate Collection by John Michael Talbot, The Name Is Love by Bobby Vinton, Reservations for Two by Dionne Warwick and Digital Jukebox by John Williams and the Boston Pops Orchestra along with countless compilations, collections and soundtracks.

He is married to Elisa Justice who was a ballet dancer and now hosts the classical music radio show Eclectic Classics and is a western region audition co-director of the Metropolitan Opera National Council.

Placido Domingo recordings
A Medley of Christmas Carols
(Joy to the World, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Good King Wenceslas, O Little town of Bethlehem, The First Noel)
FM 37245 (CD: Christmas with Placido Domingo)
Orchestra – Vienna Symphony Orchestra
Conductor -Lee Holdridge

Sources:

Holdridge, Lee (3rd March 1944-Present)

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