Bernard Holland is an internationally recognized American music critic. He served on the staff of The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

from 1981 until 2008 and held the post of chief music critic from 1995, contributing 4,575 articles to the newspaper.

Holland was born in Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

 and studied literature and philosophy as an undergraduate at the University of Virginia

University of Virginia

The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

. After studies in piano and composition at the Vienna Academy of Music and the Paris Conservatory he worked as a piano teacher. Before joining the staff of The New York Times, he was a freelance critic and music writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also known simply as the "PG," is the largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.-Early history:...

from 1979 to 1980.