Mr. Holland's Opus
Encyclopedia
Mr. Holland's Opus is a 1995 American drama film
directed by Stephen Herek
, produced by Ted Field
, Robert W. Cort
, and Michael Nolin
, and Executive Produced by Patrick Sheane Duncan
. It stars Richard Dreyfuss
in the title role, and the cast includes Glenne Headly
, Olympia Dukakis
, William H. Macy
and Jay Thomas
.
Mr. Holland's Opus is presented as a video biography of the 30-year career of the eponymous lead character, Glenn Holland, as a music teacher at the fictional John F. Kennedy High School
in Portland, Oregon
.
) is a talented musician and composer who has been relatively successful in the exhausting life of a professional musical performer. However, in an attempt to enjoy more free time with his young wife, Iris (Glenne Headly
), and to enable him to compose a piece of orchestral music
, the 30-year-old Holland accepts a teaching position.
Unfortunately for Holland, he is soon forced to realize that his position as a music teacher makes him a marginalized figure in the faculty's hierarchy. For instance, he comes face to face with how seriously he is outranked by the high school's football coach
(Jay Thomas
), who ultimately becomes his best friend. Administrators either dislike him, as does assistant principal Gene Wolters (William H. Macy
), or push him relentlessly, as does principal Helen Jacobs (Olympia Dukakis
).
Holland's lack of quality time with Iris becomes problematic when their son, Cole, is diagnosed as deaf. Glenn reacts with hostility to the news that he can never teach the joys of music to his own child. Iris willingly learns American Sign Language
to communicate with her son, but Glenn resists. This causes further estrangement within the family.
Through three decades, Mr. Holland is closer to students at John F. Kennedy High School than he is to his own son. He addresses a series of challenges created by people who are either skeptical of—or hostile towards—the idea of musical excellence within the walls of a typical middle-class American high school. He inspires many students, but never has private time for himself or his family, forever delaying the composition of his own orchestral composition. Ultimately, he reaches an age when it is too late to realistically find financial backing or ever have it performed.
In 1995, the adversaries of the Kennedy High music program win a decisive institutional victory. Holland's longtime adversary Wolters, promoted to school principal when Jacobs retires, works with the school board to eliminate music (along with the rest of the fine arts program) in the name of necessary budget cuts, thereby leading to Mr. Holland's ignominious dismissal
at the age of 60. Glenn is a realist who realizes that his working life is over. He believes that his former students have mostly forgotten him.
On his final day as a teacher, the despairing Mr. Holland is led to the school auditorium, where his professional life is surprisingly redeemed. Hearing that their beloved teacher is leaving, hundreds of his pupils have secretly returned to the school to celebrate his life.
Mr. Holland's orchestral piece, never before heard in public, has been put before the musicians by his wife and son. One of his most musically challenged students, Gertrude Lang (Alicia Witt
(young) /Joanna Gleason
(adult)), who has become governor of the state, sits in with her clarinet. Gertrude and the other alumni ask the retiring teacher to serve as their conductor
for the premiere performance of Mr. Holland's Opus ("The American Symphony"). A proud Iris and Cole look on, appreciating the affection and respect that Mr. Holland receives.
(for which he received a Golden Globe nomination
) and directed by Stephen Herek
. Dreyfuss was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor
and a Golden Globe.
with many exterior and interior scenes taking place at Ulysses S. Grant High School.
l score by Michael Kamen
and many pieces of classical music. Kamen also wrote An American Symphony, the work Mr. Holland is shown working on throughout the movie.
, and includes all of the original music written for the film by Michael Kamen. The second album is a collection of popular music featured in the film:
, founded The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation
(MHOF) in 1996 as his commitment to the future of music education.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Stephen Herek
Stephen Herek
Stephen Robert Herek is an American film director.Herek was born in San Antonio, Texas. He attended the University of Texas at Austin. His career as film director took off in 1986 with Critters followed by Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure where he worked with Keanu Reeves in 1989...
, produced by Ted Field
Ted Field
Frederick Woodruff "Ted" Field is an American media mogul and entrepreneur and film producer.-Biography:Field was born in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, the son of Katherine Woodruff Fanning, an editor of the Christian Science Monitor, and Marshall Field IV, who owned the Chicago Sun-Times. He is...
, Robert W. Cort
Robert W. Cort
Robert W. Cort is an American film producer. Since 1985 he has produced forty-eight feature films which have grossed over 2.5 billion dollars in worldwide box office....
, and Michael Nolin
Michael Nolin
Michael Nolin is an American motion picture producer, studio executive, writer/director and educator.-Biography:Nolin went to film school at the University of Southern California and began his career as a clerk typist in the MGM story department...
, and Executive Produced by Patrick Sheane Duncan
Patrick Sheane Duncan
Patrick Sheane Duncan is an American writer, film producer and director.A graduate of Grand Valley State University in Allendale Charter Township, Michigan, Duncan's career has been influenced by his Vietnam War experiences, which inspired the television mini-series Vietnam War Story and its...
. It stars Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About...
in the title role, and the cast includes Glenne Headly
Glenne Headly
Glenne Aimee Headly is an American actress of film, stage and television.-Early life:Glenne Headly was born in New London, Connecticut and her first years were spent living under the care of her mother in San Francisco and her maternal grandmother in Pennsylvania...
, Olympia Dukakis
Olympia Dukakis
Olympia Dukakis is an American actress. In 1987, she won an Academy Award, BAFTA, and a Golden Globe for her performance in Moonstruck...
, William H. Macy
William H. Macy
William Hall Macy, Jr. is an American actor and writer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo. He is also a teacher and director in theater, film and television. His film career has been built mostly on his appearances in small, independent films, though...
and Jay Thomas
Jay Thomas
Jay Thomas is an American actor, comedian and radio talk show host.-Personal life:Thomas was born in Kermit, Texas. He was raised in his Italian American mother's Roman Catholic faith, although his father was Protestant....
.
Mr. Holland's Opus is presented as a video biography of the 30-year career of the eponymous lead character, Glenn Holland, as a music teacher at the fictional John F. Kennedy High School
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
.
Plot
In 1964, Glenn Holland (Richard DreyfussRichard Dreyfuss
Richard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About...
) is a talented musician and composer who has been relatively successful in the exhausting life of a professional musical performer. However, in an attempt to enjoy more free time with his young wife, Iris (Glenne Headly
Glenne Headly
Glenne Aimee Headly is an American actress of film, stage and television.-Early life:Glenne Headly was born in New London, Connecticut and her first years were spent living under the care of her mother in San Francisco and her maternal grandmother in Pennsylvania...
), and to enable him to compose a piece of orchestral music
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
, the 30-year-old Holland accepts a teaching position.
Unfortunately for Holland, he is soon forced to realize that his position as a music teacher makes him a marginalized figure in the faculty's hierarchy. For instance, he comes face to face with how seriously he is outranked by the high school's football coach
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
(Jay Thomas
Jay Thomas
Jay Thomas is an American actor, comedian and radio talk show host.-Personal life:Thomas was born in Kermit, Texas. He was raised in his Italian American mother's Roman Catholic faith, although his father was Protestant....
), who ultimately becomes his best friend. Administrators either dislike him, as does assistant principal Gene Wolters (William H. Macy
William H. Macy
William Hall Macy, Jr. is an American actor and writer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo. He is also a teacher and director in theater, film and television. His film career has been built mostly on his appearances in small, independent films, though...
), or push him relentlessly, as does principal Helen Jacobs (Olympia Dukakis
Olympia Dukakis
Olympia Dukakis is an American actress. In 1987, she won an Academy Award, BAFTA, and a Golden Globe for her performance in Moonstruck...
).
Holland's lack of quality time with Iris becomes problematic when their son, Cole, is diagnosed as deaf. Glenn reacts with hostility to the news that he can never teach the joys of music to his own child. Iris willingly learns American Sign Language
American Sign Language
American Sign Language, or ASL, for a time also called Ameslan, is the dominant sign language of Deaf Americans, including deaf communities in the United States, in the English-speaking parts of Canada, and in some regions of Mexico...
to communicate with her son, but Glenn resists. This causes further estrangement within the family.
Through three decades, Mr. Holland is closer to students at John F. Kennedy High School than he is to his own son. He addresses a series of challenges created by people who are either skeptical of—or hostile towards—the idea of musical excellence within the walls of a typical middle-class American high school. He inspires many students, but never has private time for himself or his family, forever delaying the composition of his own orchestral composition. Ultimately, he reaches an age when it is too late to realistically find financial backing or ever have it performed.
In 1995, the adversaries of the Kennedy High music program win a decisive institutional victory. Holland's longtime adversary Wolters, promoted to school principal when Jacobs retires, works with the school board to eliminate music (along with the rest of the fine arts program) in the name of necessary budget cuts, thereby leading to Mr. Holland's ignominious dismissal
Termination of employment
-Involuntary termination:Involuntary termination is the employee's departure at the hands of the employer. There are two basic types of involuntary termination, known often as being "fired" and "laid off." To be fired, as opposed to being laid off, is generally thought of to be the employee's...
at the age of 60. Glenn is a realist who realizes that his working life is over. He believes that his former students have mostly forgotten him.
On his final day as a teacher, the despairing Mr. Holland is led to the school auditorium, where his professional life is surprisingly redeemed. Hearing that their beloved teacher is leaving, hundreds of his pupils have secretly returned to the school to celebrate his life.
Mr. Holland's orchestral piece, never before heard in public, has been put before the musicians by his wife and son. One of his most musically challenged students, Gertrude Lang (Alicia Witt
Alicia Witt
Alicia Roanne Witt is an American film, stage, television actress and singer.-Early life:Witt was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. Her mother, Diane , is a junior high school reading teacher, and her father, Robert Witt, is a science teacher and photographer. She has a brother, Ian...
(young) /Joanna Gleason
Joanna Gleason
Joanna Gleason is a Canadian actress and singer. She is a Tony Award-winning musical theatre actress and has also had a number of notable film and TV roles.-Early life:...
(adult)), who has become governor of the state, sits in with her clarinet. Gertrude and the other alumni ask the retiring teacher to serve as their conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
for the premiere performance of Mr. Holland's Opus ("The American Symphony"). A proud Iris and Cole look on, appreciating the affection and respect that Mr. Holland receives.
Cast
- Richard DreyfussRichard DreyfussRichard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About...
as Glenn Holland - Glenne HeadlyGlenne HeadlyGlenne Aimee Headly is an American actress of film, stage and television.-Early life:Glenne Headly was born in New London, Connecticut and her first years were spent living under the care of her mother in San Francisco and her maternal grandmother in Pennsylvania...
as Iris Holland - Jay ThomasJay ThomasJay Thomas is an American actor, comedian and radio talk show host.-Personal life:Thomas was born in Kermit, Texas. He was raised in his Italian American mother's Roman Catholic faith, although his father was Protestant....
as Bill Meister - Olympia DukakisOlympia DukakisOlympia Dukakis is an American actress. In 1987, she won an Academy Award, BAFTA, and a Golden Globe for her performance in Moonstruck...
as Principal Helen Jacobs - William H. MacyWilliam H. MacyWilliam Hall Macy, Jr. is an American actor and writer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo. He is also a teacher and director in theater, film and television. His film career has been built mostly on his appearances in small, independent films, though...
as Vice Principal (later Principal) Gene Wolters - Alicia WittAlicia WittAlicia Roanne Witt is an American film, stage, television actress and singer.-Early life:Witt was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. Her mother, Diane , is a junior high school reading teacher, and her father, Robert Witt, is a science teacher and photographer. She has a brother, Ian...
as Gertrude Lang - Terrence HowardTerrence HowardTerrence Dashon Howard is an American actor. Having his first major role in the 1995 film Mr. Holland's Opus, which subsequently led to a number of roles in films and high visibility among African American audiences. Howard broke into the mainstream with a succession of well-reviewed television...
as Louis Russ - Damon WhitakerDamon WhitakerDamon Whitaker is an American actor; and brother of actor Forest Whitaker. Because of his resemblance to his brother, he often plays younger versions of Forest's characters- Filmography :* The Lazarus Papers - Doc Bagley...
as Bobby Tidd - Jean Louisa KellyJean Louisa KellyJean Louisa Kelly is an American actress and singer. She is perhaps best known for her long-running role as Kim Warner on the television sitcom Yes, Dear.-Career:...
as Rowena Morgan - Alexandra BoydAlexandra BoydAlexandra Boyd is a British actress, who is best known for playing Clarissa Mason in Coronation Street. On British TV Alexandra has also appeared in two episodes of Doctors was Denis Waterman's love interest in New Tricks and has also appeared in Holby City...
as Sarah Olmstead - Nicholas John Renner as Coltrane "Cole" Holland (age 6)
- Joseph Anderson as Coltrane "Cole" Holland (age 15)
- Anthony Natale as Coltrane "Cole" Holland (age 28)
- Joanna GleasonJoanna GleasonJoanna Gleason is a Canadian actress and singer. She is a Tony Award-winning musical theatre actress and has also had a number of notable film and TV roles.-Early life:...
as Governor Gertrude Lang - Beth MaitlandBeth MaitlandBeth Maitland is American actress, best known for her portrayal of Traci Abbott Connolly in the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless from 1982 to 1996 and from 2001 to the present on a recurring basis.-Early life:...
as Deaf School Principal
Production
The movie was written by Patrick Sheane DuncanPatrick Sheane Duncan
Patrick Sheane Duncan is an American writer, film producer and director.A graduate of Grand Valley State University in Allendale Charter Township, Michigan, Duncan's career has been influenced by his Vietnam War experiences, which inspired the television mini-series Vietnam War Story and its...
(for which he received a Golden Globe nomination
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
) and directed by Stephen Herek
Stephen Herek
Stephen Robert Herek is an American film director.Herek was born in San Antonio, Texas. He attended the University of Texas at Austin. His career as film director took off in 1986 with Critters followed by Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure where he worked with Keanu Reeves in 1989...
. Dreyfuss was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
and a Golden Globe.
Filming locations
The movie was filmed in and around Portland, OregonPortland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
with many exterior and interior scenes taking place at Ulysses S. Grant High School.
Archive footage
Archive footage seen in the film includes:- Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
's speech - Robert and John F. KennedyJohn F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
- WoodstockWoodstock (film)Woodstock is a 1970 American documentary on the Woodstock Festival that took place in August 1969 at Bethel in New York. Entertainment Weekly called this film the benchmark of concert movies and one of the most entertaining documentaries ever made...
- Vietnam WarVietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
- The Rocky Horror Picture ShowThe Rocky Horror Picture ShowThe Rocky Horror Picture Show is the 1975 film adaptation of the British rock musical stageplay, The Rocky Horror Show, written by Richard O'Brien. The film is a parody of B-movie, science fiction and horror films of the late 1940s through early 1970s. Director Jim Sharman collaborated on the...
- Saturday Night FeverSaturday Night FeverSaturday Night Fever is a 1977 drama film directed by John Badham and starring: John Travolta as Tony Manero, an immature young man whose weekends are spent visiting a local Brooklyn discothèque; Karen Lynn Gorney as his dance partner and eventual friend; and Donna Pescow as Tony's former dance...
- Stop Making SenseStop Making SenseStop Making Sense is a concert movie featuring Talking Heads live on stage. Directed by Jonathan Demme, it was shot over the course of three nights at Hollywood's Pantages Theater in December 1983, as the group was touring to promote their new album Speaking in Tongues. The movie is notable for...
- Death of John Lennon
Music
The film features an orchestraOrchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
l score by Michael Kamen
Michael Kamen
Michael Arnold Kamen was an American composer , orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, song writer, and session musician.-Background:...
and many pieces of classical music. Kamen also wrote An American Symphony, the work Mr. Holland is shown working on throughout the movie.
Soundtrack releases
Two soundtrack albums were released for this film in January 1996. One is the original motion picture scoreFilm score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
, and includes all of the original music written for the film by Michael Kamen. The second album is a collection of popular music featured in the film:
- "Visions of a Sunset" - Shawn StockmanShawn StockmanShawn Patrick Stockman is an American R&B singer, best known as a member of the vocal group Boyz II Men. He is also a judge on the television show The Sing-Off, alongside Sara Bareilles and Ben Folds....
(of Boyz II MenBoyz II MenBoyz II Men is an American R&B vocal group best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are the most successful R&B group of all time, having sold more than albums worldwide. In the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet, but original member Michael McCary...
) - "One, Two, Three" - Len BarryLen BarryLen Barry is a retired American vocalist, songwriter and record producer.-Career:...
- "A Lover's ConcertoA Lover's Concerto"A Lover's Concerto" is a pop song written by American songwriters Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell and recorded in 1965 by The Toys. Their version of the song was a major hit in both the United States and the UK during 1965. It peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at #2.Critic Dave Thompson wrote,...
" - The ToysThe ToysThe Toys were an American pop girl group from Jamaica, New York, which was formed in 1961 and disbanded in 1968.-Members:The trio consisted of:* Barbara Harris sang lead most of the time.... - "Keep On Running" - Spencer Davis GroupSpencer Davis GroupThe Spencer Davis Group was a mid-1960s British beat group from Birmingham, England, formed by Spencer Davis with Steve Winwood and his brother Muff Winwood...
- "Uptight (Everything's Alright)Uptight (Everything's Alright)"Uptight " is a 1966 hit single recorded by Stevie Wonder for the Tamla label. One of his most popular early singles, "Uptight " was the first Stevie Wonder single to be co-written by the artist....
" - Stevie WonderStevie WonderStevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist... - "ImagineImagine (song)"Imagine" is a song written and performed by the English musician John Lennon. It is the opening track on his album Imagine, released in 1971...
" - John LennonJohn LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music... - "The PretenderThe Pretender (Jackson Browne song)"The Pretender" is a song by American rock performer, Jackson Browne and featured on his 1976 album The Pretender.- History :"The Pretender" was composed in a number of locations; Los Angeles, within a rented store-front in North Hollywood and a "tacky" hotel in Hawaii being two of them...
" - Jackson BrowneJackson BrowneJackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone.... - "Someone to Watch Over MeSomeone to Watch over Me (song)"Someone to Watch Over Me" is a song composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin from the musical Oh, Kay! , where it was introduced by Gertrude Lawrence...
" - Julia FordhamJulia FordhamJulia Fordham is a British singer-songwriter based in California. Her professional career started in the early 1980s, under the name "Jules Fordham", as a backing singer for Mari Wilson and Kim Wilde.-Career:... - "I Got a Woman" - Ray CharlesRay CharlesRay Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
- "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)"Beautiful Boy " is a song written and performed by John Lennon. It was released on the 1980 album Double Fantasy, the last album by Lennon and Ono released before his death....
" - John Lennon - "Cole's Song" - Julian LennonJulian LennonJohn Charles Julian Lennon is an English musician, songwriter, actor, and photographer. He is the son of John Lennon and Lennon's first wife, Cynthia Powell. Beatles manager Brian Epstein was his godfather. He has a younger half-brother, Sean Lennon. Lennon was named after his paternal...
& Tim RenwickTim RenwickTimothy John Pearson 'Tim' Renwick is an English guitarist.-Career:Renwick started playing guitar in the 1960s. He performed with many bands, including Little Women, Wages of Sin, Junior's Eyes, The Hype, Quiver and Lazy Racer... - "An American Symphony (Mr. Holland's Opus)" - London Metropolitan OrchestraLondon Metropolitan OrchestraLondon Metropolitan Orchestra , founded in 1994, is a London-based studio orchestra whose primary function is to record music for film, television, and other multimedia projects...
& Michael KamenMichael KamenMichael Arnold Kamen was an American composer , orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, song writer, and session musician.-Background:...
Box office
In the United States, gross domestic takings totaled US$ 82,569,971. International takings are estimated at $23,700,000, for a gross worldwide takings of $106,269,971. Rental totals reached $36,550,000 in the US.The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation
Inspired by the motion picture, its composer, Michael KamenMichael Kamen
Michael Arnold Kamen was an American composer , orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, song writer, and session musician.-Background:...
, founded The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation
The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation
The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation was inspired by the motion picture Mr. Holland's Opus. The film's composer, Michael Kamen, founded MHOF in 1996....
(MHOF) in 1996 as his commitment to the future of music education.