Rock music has always been a pastime for Natalie Holz ‘24 and her family. She and her family would watch videos together of live performances from some of rock music’s legendary bands, such as Van Halen. What started out as family bonding time has now turned into a lifelong passion and future career path in the music industry through one of the top music production programs in the nation.

With rock music playing in her home, Natalie decided to begin playing guitar at the age of 8. At the beginning, it was a private hobby that she enjoyed. “It was really fun (to play),” recalled Holz, “There were times I wanted to quit because it was challenging, but I’m glad I stuck with it.” Eventually, she was ready to share her talents onstage at St. Brigid her eighth grade year for a concert honoring her school music teacher, who was retiring.

Since then, Natalie has played the guitar for Carroll’s Call for Talent Shows and now plays in various bands at Carroll in the Dayton area. She even had the opportunity to play rock music in a band at Levitt Pavillion with other youth rock bands in the area last summer. In addition to her guitar-playing experiences, she is currently expanding her musicianship by playing the bass guitar, piano, and various percussion instruments.

While listening to and playing along with some of her favorite indie bands, including Arctic Monkeys, Def Leppard, and Daisy Grenade, Natalie has spent the last two years working on recording some of her own original pieces in preparation for college. Among the programs that interested Natalie, the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music’s program piqued her interest.

To pursue a degree in Virtual Music Production at CCM, Holz had a rigorous, three-phase application process. First, her initial application had to be accepted by the conservatory program. Then, Natalie submitted her artist portfolio with original recordings and samples of pieces she has digitally mixed herself. Having passed through both of those phases of the process, Natalie was invited to a sit-down interview at CCM. She was offered a spot in the program and was very excited to accept it.

She looks forward to entering the Bachelor of Arts program for Virtual Music Production at CCM in the fall. She plans on honing her craft so that she can work as a sound engineer for touring musicians or produce and record music in the studio with her fellow artists, starting with some self-produced tracks of hers coming to Spotify at the end of 2024.

Natalie has come a long way since those early days of watching Van Halen performances, and she credits her musicianship for helping shape her into a more confident person. That confidence has helped her successfully pursue and be accepted by a top-ranked school and program when others said it might be too challenging. “It’s just cool to look back at videos of when I first started (playing guitar) and to see the progress,” said Holz.

She hopes that her continued progress will lead her to mix and record music that other young people (much like her eight-year-old self) will listen to and be inspired by in the future.