Professor of Music James Holleman conducting choir
The College Orchestra Directors Association named James Holleman, professor of music, its national president.
“I am honored and humbled to serve as president of the College Orchestra Directors Association,” Holleman said in a Hillsdale College press release. “It is a terrific organization of directors who are experienced and supportive of each other and each other’s programs.”
As president of CODA, Holleman said his main job is to organize the national conference. According to Holleman, the conference brings conductors and orchestras from around the nation together to perform at the concert.
The national conference also allows conductors to network. Holleman said he met Andrew Maxfield at the conference, the composer of a symphony piece that Hillsdale’s orchestra premiered last week.
“I’ve gotten to know people all over the country and internationally,” Holleman said. “Steven Lubetkin, another composer that did a piece for my chamber choir, we met through CODA. It’s been really supportive for me.”
Other duties include managing the email list for CODA as listserv moderator, Holleman said.
“We have the resources of 400 college university orchestra conductors, and their wealth of knowledge where I can just shoot out an email, ask a question, and get all these answers or start a discussion or something,” Holleman said.
He said being an orchestra director can be a lonely job since there is usually only one in a small region. According to Holleman, CODA is a way for him to make connections with other conductors and learn from them.
“It gives me resources outside of the school,” Holleman said. “I mean, the reality we all know as conductors is in a certain small region we’re the only one. We rarely have somebody we can just go two offices down, knock on the door and talk to the other orchestra director and have give and take.”
CODA’s creation in 2003 aimed to fill a networking hole between college conductors and orchestras around the nation.
Holleman said he tapped into CODA’s resources as soon as he was aware of its existence.
“I got to know the organization,” Hollman said. “I got to know who was going to be the new president, and very quickly, from talking about what I did at Hillsdale and all this stuff, I was actually appointed to the board of directors.”
Prior to being involved in CODA, Holleman spent more than 30 years building the Hillsdale music program. He said he chose to do this by opening his orchestra to non-music majors.
“I think his idea to open everything up completely to non-music majors has really made things grow over time,” said Stacey Jones-Garrison, artist-teacher of music.
Jones-Garrison said Holleman is an excellent leader with special abilities in administrative roles.
“One of the reasons he’s made it successful here, I think, is his diplomacy and his willingness to hear, to really listen and to try to find middle ground,” Jones-Garrison said. “That’s what actually helped him build this, to be open minded enough to do things a little bit differently than the way they’re typically done at other colleges to make it work for us here.”
Holleman said his connections with CODA have also been a source of opportunities for the college.
“Our college orchestra in 2017 performed at the national conference, it was at George Mason University in D.C.,” Holleman said. “So we performed at the conference and all these college university orchestra directors are looking at the program, and they were just blown away. Somebody else said about the audition process, they said ‘we need more Hillsdale Colleges performing at our conference.’”
Holleman said other schools were amazed that a college with only five music majors in the orchestra could play such difficult repertoire with such passion. He said that his influence in the organization brought Hillsdale’s excellence in music into the public eye and set a standard for other small colleges.
“I think that he’s been able to share that paradigm at CODA. To really be an advocate for liberal arts, music departments, small colleges, especially,” Jones-Garrison said.
Sophomore Ella Licktenberg, flautist in the orchestra and student member of CODA, said Holleman advocates for Hillsdale and its students.
“I took private conducting lessons with Professor Holleman last semester,” Licktenberg said. “He mentioned that at the conference, they usually have student directors. And although those are usually doctoral students or master’s students, the door is open to undergrad students.”
Lichtenberg said Holleman has encouraged and taught her and many others.
“He’s very supportive, very caring of those in his ensembles, whether they are aware of it or not,” Lichtenberg said. “He does care quite a bit, and he’s very passionate about music and passionate with his work as a conductor, as the director of so many ensembles here on campus, and I’m certain that that also transfers to his position as president of CODA.”
