About John Holt
"The University of North Texas appears to be a hotbed of trumpet activity."
May 2005 issue of Gramophone Review of John Holt's CD: Unconventional Trumpet
John Holt is Associate Professor of Trumpet at the University of North Texas and principal trumpet with the Dallas Opera. The consummate musical artist, Holt has appeared as a soloist with orchestras throughout the United States and Europe. Committed to the advancement of contemporary chamber music in performance, recordings and education, Holt has commissioned, premiered and recorded numerous works since 2003. In 2009, Crystal Records released John Holt's 6th solo CD, Facets 3, CD 768. This album features new music for trumpet in a variety of settings including trumpet and piano; trumpet, voice and piano, trumpet and strings and solo trumpet and features acclaimed mezzo-soprano Sophia Grech. Holt's five previous recordings, all on the Crystal Records label, have received unanimous critical acclaim by industry publications Fanfare, American Record Guide, Instrumentalist, Gramophone and the International Trumpet Guild.
Born in Dallas, TX, Holt began studying trumpet at the age of 12 with Richard Giangiulio, former Principal Trumpet of the Dallas Symphony. He continued his studies at the University of Miami with Gilbert D. Johnson, former Principal Trumpet of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Concurrently, Holt performed as Co-Principal Trumpet of the Philharmonic Orchestra in Ft. Lauderdale, under the direction of Emerson Buckley. At age 24, Holt became the Principal Trumpet of the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, Italy, Zubin Mehta, music director. Orchestra guest conductors included: Luciano Berio, Georges Prétre, James Conlon, Gerd Albrecht, Carlos Kleiber, Krzysztof Penderecki and Carlo Maria Giulini.
At the invitation of artistic director and conductor Nicola Rescigno, Holt became Principal Trumpet of the Dallas Opera Orchestra in 1989. He received distinguished opera service awards in 1999 and 2004. Holt's orchestral discography includes recordings with the Dallas Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, The Dallas Opera Orchestra and The Voices of Change. He is a Yamaha Performing Artist. Holt performs on the Yamaha "Chicago" C trumpet and uses TrumCor mutes, for whom he is a consultant.