Scott Holden

Scott Holden debuted in Carnegie Hall after winning first prize in the 1996 Leschetizky New York Debut Piano Competition. Critics praised his debut for his “effortless technique, beautiful tone and the ability to turn the notes into a distinctly personal statement.” He has performed in over forty states in the US, throughout Europe as well as in Asia. He has also performed in Moscow’s Svetlanov Hall, The Kennedy Center, and Lincoln Center. Performances have been broadcast on NPR, NBC, CBC, as well as numerous local networks. His enthusiastic support of contemporary music has led to a variety of premieres, including William Wallace’s Second Piano Concerto with Keith Lockhart and the Utah Symphony.

Holden returned to Carnegie Hall to play another solo recital in 2018, featuring multiple world premieres that were included on his solo CD “the Unknown Galaxy.” Fanfare praised the album: “he brings it off with excellence, mastering everything…. It’s safe to say that there is no other piano disc quite like this one.” His CD, “Beyond Vernon Duke”, was given the highest five-star rating stating: “Holden exhibits profoundly musical readings with obvious commitment and great attention to detail.”  The 2025-2026 season will bring him to concert venues in New York, Alaska, Florida, California, Vermont, and many performances in Utah performing solo, chamber music and concerto repertoire. Dr. Holden takes great pride in performing solo recitals with unique juxtapositions of repertoire, linking them with thematic ideas.

Dr. Holden is a passionate teacher and deeply invested in his students. His students have been top prizewinners in numerous national competitions including the Gina Bachauer, Atlanta’s Emory Young Artists Competition, Minnesota’s PianoArtsNorth American Competition, and many others. His students were the top prize winners at the prestigious Music Teacher’s National Association national competitions in 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025, in multiple divisions. He has had over 30 of his own students perform concerti with the orchestras of BYU. His students have been accepted to every leading graduate and undergraduate music program in the country. He regularly travels to adjudicate and give master classes at festivals and pedagogy workshops around the country. In 2027 he will be a guest artist both teaching and adjudicating at a music festival in Hong Kong.

Holden holds degrees from the University of Michigan (BM), The Juilliard School (MM), and The Manhattan School of Music (DMA). He studied for a year at The Liszt Academy in Budapest as a Fulbright Scholar. His former teachers include Arkady Aronov, Martin Canin, Arthur Greene, Andras Kemenes, Nina Lelchuk, and Ferenc Rados. He has been on the piano faculty of Brigham Young University since 2002, where he was the head of the piano area for 14 years. He is a summer faculty member of Juilliard’s Summer Performing Arts where has taught since 2017. In 2026, he will also join the prestigious piano faculty at the Adamant Music School’s annual summer festivalwith leading pianists from around the world. In his free time, Scott Holden is a devoted explorer of Utah’s red rock deserts, which he has hiked for years with his wife and four children.