2026 Music Director: Michael Holmes

Before taking his current position at Director of Music and Arts at Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Bethesda, MD, Michael Holmes served as Director of Music at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver Spring (MD) for 20 years, where he helped to develop a highly diversified, multicultural, and integrated music program. He also promoted enriching and lasting collaborations among musicians in the church and in that community. Now at CLUUC, he has expanded to his ministry toward a much wider dimension, through all of the arts, in an effort to connect the Cedar Lane congregation to its wider community.

Michael has always been active in a wide spectrum of musical pursuits that have taken him around the world. He did his doctoral studies in Historical Musicology at the University of Maryland, College Park, made possible by means of a university-wide fellowship, and he obtained a BM in Music Theory/Composition and an MM in Orchestral Conducting from two American universities, with studies abroad at the British Institute in Florence, Italy and as a Fulbright scholar at Helsinki University in Finland. After spending much of his early career performing as a French hornist in several professional orchestras, his interests gradually shifted toward conducting and early music. Since then, he performed extensively as a conductor in Europe, leading performances with orchestras, choirs, and opera houses in seven European countries.

Michael is very active in the Association of Unitarian Universalist Music Ministries which promotes ties and exchanges among UU musicians in North America. Michael finds the Unitarian Universalist Church a welcome vehicle for him to experience the true joy of meaningful musical expression and to connect with the “real world” outside of his academic and performing career. In 2011, Michael led the choir for the Service of the Living Tradition at the annual UUA General Assembly in Charlotte, NC. He has also written and published hundreds of choir arrangements and compositions that are used in several UU congregations in North America, especially for Elise Witt and Emma’s Revolution. Michael has found his new spiritual home at Cedar Lane, and adores working with its wonderful staff, worship teams, and congregation!