Dr. J. Michael Weiss-Holmes is a talented solo and chamber musician who “… is one of the rising young saxophone stars in the United States” (Saxophone Journal). He “ranks among the very finest of today’s young intellectually and musically gifted saxophonists” (Dr. Frederick Hemke). Professor Weiss-Holmes’ active playing career has seen him performing at some of the most prestigious venues around the United States, China, Australia, Taiwan, and Europe – notably, recent performances at Carnegie Hall and on two PBS Specials with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. Weiss-Holmes has received international acclaim as an orchestral saxophonist, and has performed as principal saxophonist with numerous orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the Peninsula Music Festival Orchestra, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, the Grant Park Orchestra, Sinfonia da Camera, the Sarasota Orchestra, and the Florida Orchestra. Weiss-Holmes has worked with such renown conductors as Riccardo Muti, Jaap van Zweden, Leonard Slatkin, David Robertson, Michael Tilson Thomas, Stéphane Denève, and Marin Alsop… just to name a few. He has also shared the stage with artists such as Ben Folds, Kristen Chenowith, Jane Lynch, Sutton Foster, the Temptations, Manhattan Transfer, and Idina Menzel.

Dr. Weiss-Holmes is the Program Director of Woodwinds and Artist-Teacher of Saxophone at Roosevelt University Chicago College of Performing Arts (CCPA) and is the Professor of Saxophone at the Bower School of Music and the Arts at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU). He was previously on faculty at the University of Illinois, the College of Wooster, and the University of Notre Dame. Dr. Weiss-Holmes has served as the Marketing Director for the North American Saxophone Alliance, was the Director of Marketing for Saxophones at Conn-Selmer, Inc., and was an Artistic Advisor and Product Specialist with Vandoren. Professor Weiss-Holmes’ diverse background as a performer, educator, and former member of the music industry have provided him with unique insight in preparing the next generation of music students for successful careers in their chosen field. As such, he has been invited to present clinics, masterclasses, and performances at some of the most prestigious saxophone programs both nationally and internationally. Weiss-Holmes is an active soloist of contemporary music and has commissioned and premiered numerous works for the saxophone. His performances have received great accolades and can be heard on the CSO Resound, Mark, NAXOS, Aucourant, SEAMUS and Klavier Record labels.

Weiss-Holmes holds a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) and Master of Music (MM) in Saxophone Performance and Literature from the University of Illinois where he studied with Professor Debra Richtmeyer, and a Bachelors in Music Education (BME) from Bowling Green State University where he was a student of Distinguished Research/Artist Professor John Sampen. He had additional studies with saxophonists Jean-Marie Londeix, Fred Hemke, Claude Delangle, Griffin Campbell, Daniel Kientzy, and Eugene Rousseau. Dr. Weiss-Holmes is a member of the North American Saxophone Alliance and has performed in many of the national and regional conferences, as-well-as at the World Saxophone Congress. He is a Selmer Artist/Clinician as well as Vandoren Performing Artist. He is married to Brad Weiss-Holmes and they reside in Chicago, IL and Cape Coral, FL.