Welcome to our new Executive Director, Steve Holley!

As a non-profit leader, Steve Holley served as Secretary, Vice President, and President during his six-year tenure with the Association for Popular Music Education, an international music education organization dedicated to advancing popular music education worldwide. Under his leadership, APME experienced year-over-year growth in membership and educational partnerships, expanded its conferences to include four international events, and significantly increased sponsorship engagement, ensuring the long-term viability of the organization.

As a teacher, Steve previously served as the Producer for the Commercial Music Program at the Kent Denver School outside Denver, CO, for nineteen years. During his tenure, the R&B, soul, salsa, and jazz bands of the CMP were recognized by DownBeat magazine’s Student Music Awards fifteen times. The bands performed hundreds of gigs in the U.S. and abroad, held standing gigs at local clubs, performed on dozens of radio and television broadcasts, recorded at some of the most hallowed studios in the country, and performed with dozens of Grammy-caliber artists.

As a bassist, Steve has recorded on over 100 studio projects and has played over 10,000 gigs across the world in every style of music imaginable.

As a writer, Steve authored the book Coaching a Popular Music Ensemble: Blending formal, non-formal, and informal approaches in the rehearsal and co-edited Action-based Approaches in Popular Music Education—a text featuring chapters from 26 experienced popular music educators discussing their teaching approaches to the popular music learning space.

Steve holds a Ph.D. in Music Learning and Teaching from Arizona State University, as well as a B.M. and an M.M. in Jazz/Classical Bass Performance from the University of Memphis. Steve and his family live in Denver, CO, with their rescue Boston Terrier, Clementine. 

We are grateful for Steve Blatt's leadership and contributions to Bringing Music to Life. As we turn the page, we are excited to welcome Steve Holley as our new Executive Director and look forward to the next chapter in advancing our mission.