Holly has quickly become one of the most in-demand rising stars within the rare breed of women jazz pianists in New York City since her arrival in 2020 amid the height of the coronavirus pandemic. She currently studies at the Juilliard School, where she is the first woman ever to pursue a Master of Music degree in Jazz Piano. 

 

Holly discovered a deep, spiritual connection to the jazz idiom upon meeting her first jazz teacher, Professor Donald Brown, at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2017. Mr. Brown, well known for his work with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers as well as his own legendary career in jazz piano performance, composition and producing, remains her biggest musical influence. Some others include Mulgrew Miller, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Sarah Vaughan, Amy Winehouse, Jazzmeia Horn, Bill Evans, Erroll Garner, Billie Holiday, Red Garland, Erykah Badu, Thelonious Monk, Maria Schneider, Moonchild, and John Coltrane.

 

An accomplished pianist and vocalist across genres, Holly has performed as bandleader at Birdland Jazz Club, the Django, Room 623, The Wallace and Le Rivage with the likes of Joseph Farnsworth, Alexander Claffy, Jeremy Pelt, Julius Rodriguez, Benny Benack III, Luther Allison, Giveton Gelin, Keith Balla, Thomas Linger, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and many others. Holly debuted her first jazz arrangements for symphony orchestra in April of 2023, performing alongside the Heartland Festival Orchestra. She has held residencies at the Woolworth Building, Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Le Rivage NYC, Flaweless TriBeCa, Eddie V's and the acclaimed Caroga Lake Music Festival in upstate New York, among many others past and current. Holly has also given masterclasses at numerous secondary education institutions and universities across the country, focusing on teaching the spirit of improvisation, expanding the reach of the jazz idiom in rural communities, and inspiring younger generations to express themselves in a way that gave her a purpose in life.