Holland, M. Roger II
.jpg)
M. Roger Holland II is a Teaching Associate Professor in Music and Religion and Director of The Spirituals Project at the Lamont School of Music, University of Denver. He earned his Doctor of Pastoral Music degree from Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. He received his MDiv degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where he also served as Artist-in-Residence and director of the Union Gospel Choir for over thirteen years. Union awarded him the 2015 Trailblazers Distinguished Alumni Award (the first for a graduate whose ministry is music), for his contributions to the legacy of African American music. He received a master’s (piano performance) from the Manhattan School of Music (New York City) and majored in music education (concentration in piano and voice) at Westminster Choir College (Princeton, New Jersey).
Commissioned works include UBUNTU: I Am Because We Are; The Dream and the Dreamer; The Tribulation Suite; The Call; Agnus Dei; and Magnificat. Original music collections include Building Up the Kingdom (featuring the single “Worthy God”) and his four-volume Honey from the Rock. He has played for the Broadway productions of The Color Purple and the Tony®-winning Memphis. Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York, presented Roger with the Pierre Toussaint Medallion for service in November 2016.