Overview
A Mother’s Celebration of the Incredible Talent and Life of Her Son
What Goes Into Making a Musical Genius?
Mayme Wilkins Holt opens up her heart to share the incredible story of her son, musician and singer Ben Holt. Holt recounts the joys and challenges of being a single mother and raising a gifted child.
Filled with photos from Ben’s life, this book is not only a biography of a talented musician who was taken too soon, but is also a musical journey. Holt shows us how her son first developed a passion for music, but also struggled, at first, with the rigors of having to count the beat of each note. Though he played several instruments, Ben’s voice was his greatest musical gift. Ben would graduate from Juilliard and go on to have a successful career as a vocal and performing artist, being featured in several great classical music and operatic performances, including Metropolitan Opera Company.
At the tragically young age of 26, Ben was diagnosed with cancer. After treatment, the disease went into remission. But, Ben knew he was on borrowed time.
During the next eight years of his life, Ben accomplished more, loved more, and lived more than most people fit into lives that stretch long into retirement. One of the most remarkable parts of Ben’s story is that it didn’t end with his untimely death at age 34. Instead, Ben’s legacy continues through the people he touched, in his brief life, who have helped to use his work and his story to bless many, more lives.
Join a mother as she takes you on an incredible journey of love, talent, and tragedy. Once you start reading Ben’s story, you won’t be able to stop turning the page.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940152054347 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Christian Living Books, Inc. |
| Publication date: | 07/15/2015 |
| Sold by: | Smashwords |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 3 MB |
About the Author
Mayme Wilkins Holt a native of Alexandria, Virginia, is a retired teacher of English from the Fairfax County Public School System. In addition to work as an educator for twenty-three (23) years in Fairfax County, Mrs. Holt taught for five (5) years at the A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina. She also served as an Instructor of English at the United States Department of Agriculture Graduate School.
While pursuing a Bachelor degree in Liberal Arts at Howard University, Mrs. Holt studied voice under Carolyn Grant and Louise Burge. Keenly interested in developing her musical talents, she also studied piano through private instruction under Lucille Muse at the Washington Conservatory of Music and School of Expression, located in Washington, D. C. and established by Harriett Gibbs Marshall and exclusively operated by African American musicians for the advancement of African American education.
Mrs. Holt later earned the Master of Arts in English degree from The Catholic University of America in D.C. She also pursued post-graduate studies at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
Believing that working with civic organizations enables one to give service to others, Mrs. Holt is affiliated with several professional organizations including:
- The American Association of University Women
- Zeta Chi Omega Chapter, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority
- National Association of Negro Musicians
- Friday Morning Music Club (Washington, D.C.)
- The Metropolitan Opera Company (Supporting Member)
- Young Concert artists (Supporting Member)
- Lois J. Wright Concert Series (Baltimore, Maryland)
As an early effort, Mrs. Holt actively located young, promising musicians to present to the public by auditioning them to participate in shows and other functions held at the Black History Dinner Theatre at the Takoma Park Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. for several seasons. She guided and mentored many of the talented musicians and other artists whom she discovered.
Over the years, Mrs. Holt has ventured in many directions career-wise and has broadened her talents, skills and interests. She has performed as a vocal concert artist in the Mississippi Delta Region, Northern Virginia, and Washington, D.C. She shared an early music world with contralto former classmates Lucreza West (né Lucretia Anderson); Lawrence Winters, baritone (nê Whisonant), and Sarah Copper, soprano and pianist, all students of Mary L. Europe (sister of conductor James Reese Europe). Sarah later married Robert McFerrin, Sr., baritone, the first Black male vocalist accepted to the Metropolitan Opera of New York.
For the many years, Mrs. Holt has performed and for her sincere interest in helping talented artists, she has received numerous awards. However, she considers her greatest achievement to be in helping others to broaden their talents and careers. Extending this endeavor further, Mrs. Holt founded the Friends of Ben Holt Society, Inc. in 1995 through which she presented aspiring, established, and renowned artists in concert at the Charles Sumner School Museum and Archives, in Washington, D. C. Proceeds from this mission went to the Juilliard School in New York to establish a permanent endowment for the Ben Holt Memorial Scholarship for Students of Voice. Each year Juilliard selects a deserving student for this award.