Great Big Story: CCM Alum John Holiday Sings Highest of High Notes
The award-winning countertenor talks about how his naturally high voice became his greatest asset
UC College-Conservatory of Music alumnus John Holiday (MM Voice, '12) sings everything from opera to spirituals on stages all over the world. His journey to singing is featured in a micro-documentary profile by Great Big Story, an Emmy-winning global media company devoted to cinematic storytelling.
Growing up in Texas, Holiday says that he sang in the soprano section of the church choir and was often teased for his high voice. However, the countertenor knew he was destined to be a singer. Watch the profile video on the Great Big Story website.
Holiday has been the recipient of numerous major competitions and award programs such as the 2017 Marian Anderson Vocal Award; the 2014 Catherine Filene Shouse Career Development Grant from the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts; the Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation; the 2014 Richard Tucker Foundation Sara Tucker award; first place at the 2013 Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, the 2012 Sullivan Foundation, and the 2011 Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition; and third place winner in the 2014 OPERALIA competition. In addition, Holiday was named one of Broadway World’s “New York Opera 2015 Gifts that Keep on Giving,” nominated for “Newcomer of the Year” by the German magazine Opernwelt, and listed as one of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 100 honorees for 2018. He was a 2007 District Winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
Learn more about his accomplishments on Holiday's professional website.
Featured image at the top: John Holiday. Photo/Shervin Lainez
Impact Lives Here
The University of Cincinnati is leading public urban universities into a new era of innovation and impact. Our faculty, staff and students are saving lives, changing outcomes and bending the future in our city's direction. Next Lives Here.
Read more #UCtheGood stories, or take a UC virtual visit and begin picturing yourself at an institution that inspires incredible stories.
Related Stories
Dark Energy Survey sheds light on expansion of universe
February 13, 2026
Astronomy talks to University of Cincinnati physicist Jessica Muir about an international project examining dark energy. The project could help explain why the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate.
How sports gambling is changing the game
February 13, 2026
Fantasy sports and the wager on which team will win a game are nothing new. But with sports gambling apps making it practically effortless for people to wager on just about any aspect of a match, gambling’s popularity is changing the game. The Journal-News turned to Mike Fry, professor of operations, business analytics and information systems at the University of Cincinnati’s Lindner College of Business to break down the rise and the risks of sports betting.
Scientists: Slushy snowmelt isn’t just a nuisance
February 13, 2026
Slushy snowmelt isn’t just a nuisance, scientists say. It can send a toxic flood of road salt, sand and car exhaust, as well as dog poop, into rivers and streams, The University of Cincinnati College of Medicine's Yevgen Nazarenko, PhD, assistant professor of environmental and industrial hygiene in the Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences, recently told The New York Times that research has shined a light on how pollution from all sorts of vehicles — planes, cars, trucks — can get trapped in the snow.