Few musicians balance the new opposite the old quite like American pianist Holly Roadfeldt. Recently deemed a “perfect pairing of technical prowess and innate sensitivity” (American Record Guide), Roadfeldt has established herself as one of contemporary music’s most prolific ambassadors—to date, she has made over 150 world premieres by more than four dozen composers. Recognized by audiences and critics for both her technical facility and distinctive interpretation of music from all eras, Roadfeldt has appeared on stages and venues across Canada, Europe, Asia, and over 30 U.S. states.

Roadfeldt tirelessly searches for like-minded composers who share her obsession with creating opportunities for listeners to relate to the music they hear. Best demonstrating this ethos is her three-year artistic flagship, “The Preludes Project,” which saw Holly premiere 65 new preludes by 16 composers. In touring the concept across 17 states, her lecture-recitals connected the present and the past, pairing the newly composed preludes with curated works within the standard repertoire. The concept drew rave reviews and attention across the industry, leading to Holly’s debut album, a collaboration with multi-GRAMMY® award winning producer Andreas Meyer. The Preludes Project CD (2016) released on PARMA Recordings, pairing Chopin’s Op. 28 Preludes with composer Kirk O’Riordan’s Twenty-Six Preludes for Solo Piano (2014). The album complements her numerous PARMA album collaborations with composers, including Mara Gibson’s Sky-Born (2017), and two other albums with O’Riordan: Strange Flowers (2013) and the recent release of Autumn Winds (2020), her second collaboration with Andreas Meyer.

Music critics across the United States, Canada, Italy, U.K., and Spain have taken notice, including American Record Guide, whose Autumn Winds review simply remarked that “Holly Roadfeldt is on fire.” Gramophone’s Donald Rosenberg praised her as “a vivid pianist” with “beautiful playing”, while for The Preludes Project CD, she received accolades from World Music Report for an “utterly convincing, breathtaking sense of elation” with “a varied touch that perfectly matches the mood of each piece.” Sonograma deemed the album worthy of “all of our highest praise,” joining other colorful superlatives like “jaw-dropping” (Mainly Piano) and “exquisite” (Cinemusical).

Known for premiering an eclectic array of exciting music, much of Roadfeldt’s recent pedagogical and artistic philosophy can be credited to Lisa, a 13-year old student who wondered why she “was only studying music written by men.” Driven to make that lesson the last time she heard that question, Holly has since prioritized including composers across the gender spectrum in her pedagogy. As a performer, composers she has commissioned span a number of the field’s most innovative voices, including Rasa Daukus, Mara Gibson, Michelle McQuade Dewhirst, Kala Pierson, Jessica Rudman, Julia Seeholzer, Stephanie Ann Boyd, and many others. With Lisa in mind, Roadfeldt hopes to encourage young female students to walk fearlessly down the road of self-expression and creativity. 

Now a veteran of collaborating during the composition process, Holly pays her experience forward in masterclasses across the United States, teaching effective piano writing to university level composers. Her recurring lecture series “Classical Café” and “Classical Conversations” intersects Roadfeldt’s equal comfort with both performing and relating music to audiences. Taking place since 2017, each event explores themes like darkness, virtuosity, and even Bob Dylan, showing their direct influence on iconic repertoire throughout history using live musical examples. 

Holly has taken the stage in myriad contexts and remains in high demand as a performer. Among her fondest memories are her performances of Chopin’s complete catalog of Preludes with revered Montréal-based dance troupe Compagnie Marie Chouinard. As a chamber musician, Holly has performed with members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, the Frankfurt Opera, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Brussels Philharmonic as well as with concert artists Alexa Still, Bonita Boyd, and Marcia Baldwin. 

Holly’s first professional performance came at 13 years old, performing with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra. Her fire in pursuing contemporary music ignited at the Eastman School of Music, where she was first able to collaborate with composers—Roadfeldt would go on to win First Prize in the Frinna Awerbuch International Piano Competition in its Contemporary Music category.

Holly is currently the Director of Keyboard Studies at Lafayette College. Previously, she taught at the University of Delaware, Susquehanna University, Muhlenberg College, Gettysburg College, the University of Colorado-Boulder, Indiana University, and was Artist Faculty with Distinction at The Music School of Delaware. 

Feature Articles

The Morning Call, Steve Siegel; Allentown, PA. March 10, 2020
Pianist Holly Roadfeldt opens Muhlenberg Contemporary Music Festival

“Perhaps after hearing Roadfeldt’s recital, audiences will realize that contemporary classical music is something that can be fun and intuitively understood. “This is not just a program of titles on a page. All of these pieces are truly evocative, and that’s where the audience is going to find something they can relate to easily,” she says.”

**Article Published before the concert was cancelled due to COVID-19.

The Morning Call, Steve Siegel; Allentown, PA. October 14, 2019
Pianist Holly Roadfeldt goes beyond the 3 Bs

“We’re all familiar with classical programs featuring the 3 Bs. But there are more Bs out there than just Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. What about Barber, Boyd, Beach, and Boulanger? And can it be possible to present a classical piano recital without at least one famous C, in the form of Chopin?”

The Morning Call, Steve Siegel; Allentown, PA. April 10, 2019
Holly Roadfeldt piano recital at Williams Center

“Pianist and Lafayette College faculty member Holly Roadfeldt likes to mix things up in her concert programs, presenting pieces both old and new by both male and female composers, some well-known, others just emerging. Variety will certainly be a part of her recital at the Williams Center at Lafayette College, with just one twist: the “oldest” work on the program was composed in 2013, and most are from 2017-2018.”

The Morning Call, Steve Siegel; Allentown, PA. February 10, 2019
Holly Roadfeldt’s Classical Conversations

“The idea of classical conversation is that I wanted audiences to know that classical musicians are not just inspired by classical music. What I’m hoping for is that audiences will figure out how to listen to music that they’re unfamiliar with. Sometimes people are a little apprehensive about hearing something new. We do get stuck in our listening habits, and I really enjoy sharing unfamiliar music that needs to be heard in a comfortable setting.”

The Morning Call, Steve Siegel; Allentown, PA. Jan. 29, 2019
Holly Roadfeldt piano recital blends classics with new commissions

“Opening a piano recital with Beethoven and following it with Grieg won’t raise any eyebrows. But by sandwiching between them a piece by 37-year-old Jessica Rudman, Holly Roadfeldt is clearly sending a message.”

The Morning Call, Steve Siegel; Allentown, PA. Oct. 18, 2017
Piano recital spotlights contemporary works inspired by popular culture

“Musical inspiration, and the sometimes unlikely sources that stimulate it, is the driving force behind a free recital that pianist and Lafayette College faculty member Holly Roadfeldt will present Friday at the Williams Center at Lafayette College. Although the program includes classical standards by Mozart, Clara Schumann and Rachmaninoff, the real stars are seven contemporary composers, four of whom have written pieces especially for Roadfeldt.”

WKSU 89.7 Public Radio News for Northeast Ohio. September 22, 2017
Pianist Brings Personal Works by Living Composers to Akron

“If classical pianists include new music on their recitals, it’s often an afterthought. Pianist Holly Roadfeldt takes a different approach. Tonight at the University of Akron’s Guzzetta Hall, she’s performing a recital of 13 pieces written just for her by living composers.”

The Morning Call, Steve Siegel; Allentown, PA. Nov. 16, 2016
'Preludes' by Holly Roadfeldt celebrates piano miniatures

“But too often, only a handful of the great piano preludes by Chopin, Debussy, Rachmaninoff and others ever get regular playtime. The ones that we do hear in a concert usually are treated as a mere introduction to a larger work. Pianist and Lafayette College faculty member Holly Roadfeldt wants to change that perception. "The Preludes Project" is the vehicle with which she intends to make that happen.”

Reviews

"Holly Roadfeldt is utterly convincing in both her Chopin and O’Riordan. This performance is likely to be remembered as one of her most celebrated and deservedly so; every note of her Chopin sounds fresh and alive, and her varied touch perfectly matches the mood of each piece – and all are conjured up with a breathtaking sense of elation. Roadfeldt’s performance of O’Riordan’s work is similarly beckoning. Her genuine musicality and instinct for idiom seems magically suited for the works. She always navigates the flashy finger work with ear-catching precision as well as with a lightness and control that is wholly affecting. Ever-mindful of the subtlety of mood and hue in each O’Riordan miniature Holly [Roadfeldt] brings her enviable polyphonic acumen and dance-oriented conception to operate at full capacity on a deep and (equally) subtle level as she negotiates both composers with equal facility."

Raul da Gama, World Music Report, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (March 11, 2017). 

"The clarity of [Roadfeldt’s] playing on the faster and more complicated preludes is jaw-dropping. She is truly an artist in full command of her instrument, but never at the expense of the beauty of the music."

Kathy Parsons, Mainly Piano, Oregon, USA (March 13, 2017)

“Everyone has their personal favorite recording of these pieces. Roadfeldt’s are equally fine interpretations demonstrating her excellent expressive abilities and technique. The sound itself is quite stellar. Often these are paired with other Chopin pieces and tend to be overshadowed as a result. Here the listener can sit back and explore these often beautiful works. There are some exquisite moments throughout this performance…At the cost of a single CD, this Ravello set will certainly be worth tracking down for fans of contemporary piano music with the bonus of hearing Roadfeldt’s interpretations of the Chopin being equally worthy of consideration. Certainly, hearing her explore additional repertoire heard in her concert performances would be a welcome addition to the discography.”

—Cinemusical  (December 2016)

”Roadfeldt plays all 50 pieces with finesse. Her Chopin is light, warm, speedy, stretched-out, agitated and songlike as appropriate, and although she allows each independent little piece to encapsulate its own particular mood, she also provides a sense of continuity-through-contrast when that is appropriate…If this release were simply a recording of the Chopin, one among a great many, it would still get a top rating for the effectiveness of Roadfeldt’s handling of the material.”

Infodad (November 3, 2016)

El doble àlbum que avui presentem, The Preludes Project, és el debut de la pianista Holly Roadfeldt a Ravello Records, el segell de música contemporània produït per Parma Recordings. Un projecte idoni per aquest segell. Parlem-ne. Holly Roadfeldt, que actualment exerceix com a mestre de la Facultat de Piano amb la distinció a l’Escola de Música de Delaware, ha creat un projecte musical dirigit a desafiar els oients amb les seves expectatives de repertori contemporani i clàssic. Ja ha rebut 47 preludis escrits per a aquest projecte. En aquest projecte, la pianista nord-americana uneix el piano i el preludi, el passat i el present. I ho fa amb un espectacular èxit. El primer disc reuneix els 24 Preludis, op. 28 de Frédéric Chopin, escrits a Mallorca l’any 1838, i el segon disc aplega els 26 Preludis per a piano del compositor Kirk O’Riordan.

Les primeres sensacions que ens arriba de Roadfeldt, son dos magnífics resums de les línees per les que camina la música de Chopin i O’Riordan,
tot i que el llenguatge dels dos compositors és diferent. Holly Roadfeldt treballa en aquest punt de difícil equilibri que és compaginar las composicions de Chopin i O’Riordan. La pianista nord-americana és totalment convincent. No deixa escletxes de dubte.


 La varietat en els tempos dels diversos temes, junt amb la inspiració de les melodies romàntiques, donen testimoni de com la creació s’erigeix com a element primordial dels objectius de Roadfeldt. Ella mateixa confessa que les experiències que he tingut amb aquest projecte han significat un canvi molt important en la seva vida. Cal remarcar que la música de Kirk O’Riordan és singularment visual, evocadora, que, al igual que Chopin, són breus peces pianístiques que representen una àmplia gamma d’estats d’ànim.


 No solament desitgem una gran sort perquè aquest magnífic projecte es desenvolupi àmpliament sinó que convidem els lectors a escoltar i descobrir una de les interpretacions d’una pianista que ofereix el millor de si mateixa quant a l’expressió, l’agilitat i la perfecció de l’articulació. Un doble àlbum que mereix tots els nostres elogis.”

Núria Serra, sonograma magazine, Barcelona, Spain (Apr. 29, 2017)

“In her performance of these works, Roadfeldt takes claim to one of the most iconic pieces in the solo piano repertoire, and also annoints O’Riordan’s new work as an impressive achievement among Classical music’s greatest sets of piano preludes….Roadfeldt’s performance of the Chopin unquestionably captures the elegance, power, and intimacy that the composer explores in these pioneering preludes. [She] molds the piano’s sound in THE PRELUDES PROJECT, and, in her masterful rendering of Chopin and O’Riordan’s pieces, brings these two works side-by-side. As a result, one should consider Roadfeldt’s performance on this album as significant a contribution to piano music as the compositions she performs.”

Parma Recordings (November 2016)