Bio

Nathaniel Holman is a percussionist and educator currently based in Miami, FL. 

As an active pedagogue, Nathaniel currently serves on faculty at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida, teaching private lessons, co-directing the percussion ensemble, and working with the athletic band. Prior to this appointment, he worked with the Southern Florida Center for Percussive Arts and was a private teacher, percussion ensemble director, and drum line tech for Oswego East High School, Neuqua Valley High School, Bolingbrook High School, and Murphy Junior High. His students have gone on to pursue music careers at Northern Illinois University, The University of Illinois, and the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. They also have regularly placed in All-State band, the Summer Juilliard Percussion Seminar, the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute.

As an active performer, Nathaniel has a career spanning performing with Miami Bloco, the nations’s largest Samba Bateria, to playing with the New World Symphony. He has performed numerous solo and collaborative recitals where he has had the privilege of sharing the stage with artists such as Jenny Klukken, Matthew Coley, Lynn Vartan, and Gordon Stout. Further, he has appeared as an international clinician, notably with his research on the historical performance of baroque music on marimba, presenting at prominent institutions such as the Royal Academy of Music (Denmark), The Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, and at the 2025 National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy. Nathaniel’s career also includes several PAS Day of Percussion invitations, multiple world premier commissions and performances , as well as appearances in England, Finland, and Sweden.

Nathaniel is a member of Heartland Marimba where he regularly collaborates on tours and projects that have taken place in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. Tour highlights include a showcase concert at the Percussive Arts Society Internationally Conference (2022), residencies at several universities (Muhlenburg College, Kutztown University, Southern Illinois University, and Suny-Fredonia), and composer-performer festivals that have featured 10+ world premiers. His most recent work with them was in organizing and performing in the Musser Marimba Festival which featured 40+ marimbas on one stage with 50+ players from around the nation.

Along with his extensive list of solo, ensemble, and chamber experience, Nathaniel has also been a prize winner in several competitions including the International Bamburg Marimba Competition, the International Artist Competition (hosted by Southern California Marimba), and the Chicago International Music Competition. 

Nathaniel holds a BM in percussion performance from Wheaton College (IL) and a Master of Music from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee. He is currently pursuing a DMA in performance at the Frost School of Music (University of Miami) where he studies with Svet Stoyanov, Leo Soto, and Pablo Rieppi. Nathaniel serves on the PAS Health and Wellness Committee and proudly endorses Marimba One and Salyers Percussion products.