Holly Mulcahy

After hearing Scheherazade at an early age, Holly Mulcahy fell in love with the violin and knew it would be her future. She currently serves as concertmaster of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra. She spends her summers at the celebrated Grand Teton Music Festival. Believing in music as a healing and coping source, Holly founded Arts Capacity, a charitable 501(c)3 which focuses on bringing live chamber music, art, artists, and composers to prisons. Arts Capacity addresses many emotional and character-building issues people face as they prepare for release into society. Holly performs on a 1917 Giovanni Cavani violin, previously owned by the late renowned soloist Eugene Fodor, and a bespoke bow made by award winning master bow maker, Douglas Raguse.

Would you invest in that orchestra?

Sun, Sep 4, 2011Mon, Feb 7, 2011 by Holly Mulcahy

Several years ago, I won a position in an orchestra that was closer to my family. While the job was a slightly better paying job which had a longer concert season and many other pluses than the job I had at the time, I hesitated. My aunt, who lived in this city and was a very successful businesswoman, was trying to help me decide whether to uproot and move or keep my current position and continue auditioning for work elsewhere. Her advice came in the form of a question:

“If you could, would you buy shares of stock in this orchestra?”

At the time, this seemed like an unusual approach for making a decision. She continued with more details.

Your Bio Is Still Boring

Tue, Feb 20, 2024Mon, Jan 3, 2011 by Holly Mulcahy

A couple of months ago I wrote a bit about how so many professional musicians’ bios tend to be boring and predictable. Apparently, I’m not alone as a number of readers sent private emails summing up people’s opinions on the topic.

So in a very informal fashion, I’d like to take a few of these observations and create a “list of sins”:

Sage Advice Worth Remembering

Sun, Dec 6, 2015Mon, Dec 6, 2010 by Holly Mulcahy

When I was a teenager I would occasionally wonder if my desire to play music professionally would ever come to fruition. Growing up in Denver, CO meant watching The Denver Symphony dissolve in 1989. In May, 1990 the Denver Symphony Association merged with the newly formed Colorado Symphony Association, a new and initially smaller orchestra employing many of the Denver Symphony musicians.

The new orchestra continually endured cuts and budget adjustments. Watching it was unsettling, and as teenager, it was always fresh on my mind as conversations with fellow teen musicians would ultimately end with negative feelings and views for our futures in the arts.

I specifically remember returning from a six week music festival in British Columbia and talking about my fears with my parents. While neither of my parents were musicians, they offered incredibly sage wisdom to juxtapose against my increasingly negative outlook.

Your Bio is Boring (and so is mine)

Sun, Sep 4, 2011Mon, Nov 1, 2010 by Holly Mulcahy

Listening to a live concert can be a truly special thing. Hearing and feeling music first hand, performed right before your eyes can never be replaced. But let’s face it; there are moments, mostly the slow movements, where some audience members check out. I watch them, flipping through their programs, reading notes, bios, the advertisements; anything to pass the time until something exciting starts up again.

On a few occasions where I’m not playing and actually get to attend a concert, I have been grateful there was a program book to flip through. And it doesn’t take long to figure out that most artist bios are extremely predictable and more often than not, rather boring.

So You Want To Be Liked

Wed, Apr 13, 2016Mon, Oct 4, 2010 by Holly Mulcahy

For arts organizations, the era of Facebook is here. Nearly every day I get invited to “Like” an organization such as symphony orchestra, chamber group or individual artist. If I decide to Like the group, I’ll get updates on concerts and events in my newsfeed.

At first, it was kind of fun to see what groups were playing and doing. Following how different groups approached and used their representative Facebook tool was interesting at first but after the first year I started noticing distinct patterns; some of which produced a steady stream of flawed approaches, others generated regular gems, and others were nothing more than general annoyances.