"Cause me to hear Your loving kindness in the morning, For in You do I trust; Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul to You." Psalm 143:8, NKJV
Dr. Ashley Holder is the Assistant Professor of Music & Woodwinds at East Texas Baptist University. At ETBU, her teaching duties include teaching clarinet, flute, saxophone, oboe, and bassoon lessons, chamber ensembles, music theory, and other music and fine arts courses. An active performer and clinician, Dr. Holder has performed in the Ocala Symphony Orchestra, Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, and Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra. She also performed internationally as a soloist and chamber musician and has been a guest clinician at high schools and universities throughout the United States.
Before coming to ETBU, Dr. Holder served as an assistant band director and woodwind instructor at Mabank ISD. Her duties included assisting junior high and high school bands and teaching weekly lessons and sectionals to all woodwind students. Dr. Holder also served as an Adjunct Professor of Woodwinds at Trinity Valley Community College. Before her positions at Mabank and TVCC, Dr. Holder was a graduate teaching assistant at Florida State University and a private instructor. She has maintained a private studio for over fifteen years. Her students have placed into Region, Area, and All-State Bands.
Dr. Holder is very active in the research of clarinet repair and the research of Baroque performance practice and authenticity related to the modern clarinet.
A native of Santa Fe, Texas, in high school Dr. Holder was a three-time TMEA All-State musician, a member of the Houston Youth Symphony, and earned superior ratings at TSSEC.
Dr. Holder holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Baylor University, a Master of Music in Performance from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Doctor of Music in Performance from Florida State University. Her primary teachers include Dr. Deborah Bish, Dr. Jonathan Holden, Patrick Meehan, Richard MacDowell, Dr. Richard Shanley, and Chester Rowell.