Mike Holober

Pianist / Composer / Arranger / Conductor / Educator

Described by DownBeat Magazine as “one of the finest modern composer/arrangers of our time,” Mike Holober was awarded the 2022 American Academy of Arts and Letters Andrew Imbrie Award in Music. His 2019 release “Mike Holober and the Gotham Jazz Orchestra: Hiding Out” was nominated for a GRAMMY® (“Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album) and his subsequent jazz orchestra project “This Rock We’re On: Imaginary Letters” (Palmetto, 2024) was described as a “grand-scale masterpiece” and “a jazz orchestra composition masterclass.”

In addition to leading his own band, Mike has served at the helm of some of the world’s most renowned large ensembles as composer, arranger, and conductor. He was Artistic Director of the critically acclaimed Westchester Jazz Orchestra, and he has worked extensively overseas, writing and conducting for the hr-Big Band (Frankfurt, Germany), the WDR Big Band (Cologne, Germany), and other renowned groups such as the Stockholm Jazz Orchestra, the Bohuslan Big Band and the RTV Big Band in Slovenia. During these engagements he has written and conducted concerts for artists such as Kurt Rosenwinkel, Avishai Cohen, Miguel Zenon, Al Foster, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Randy Brecker, Paquito D’Rivera, and Joe Lovano. Recent engagements include residencies at the Jazzcampus in Basel, Switzerland, and the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (in cooperation with the hr-Big Band). In November 2024 he arranged the music for the Frankfurt Jazz Festival for vocalist Becca Stevens and the hr-Big Band, and in July 2025 he wrote a project for the WDR Big Band and saxophonist Chris Potter which included an original suite titled “Random Moves.”

Mike has released nine recordings as a leader and can be heard on over 80 recordings as a sideman. His small group projects include The Mike Holober Quintet, Balancing Act (a jazz octet with voice), and most recently The Marvin Stamm/Mike Holober Quartet and the Marvin Stamm/Mike Holober duo project.

Amongst his honors, Mike is the recipient of a prestigious Chamber Music America New Jazz Works commission for “Don’t Let Go,” a song-cycle written for “Balancing Act,” his jazz octet with voice. He was named the inaugural Stuart Z. Katz Professor in the Humanities and the Arts at The City College of New York in 2017, and he has enjoyed multiple artist residencies at MacDowell (2003; 2004; 2005; 2006; 2009; 2020), The Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts (2019), The Ucross Foundation (2007; 2019), and Yaddo (2005).

Mike is a full Professor at The City College of New York, and teaches composing and arranging at The Manhattan School of Music. He was Associate Director of the BMI Jazz Composer’s Workshop from 2007 - 2015, where he taught with Director Jim McNeely, and he is an active member of the International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers (ISJAC) and a frequent contributor to Jazz Composers Present (JCP).