Mr. Holland’s Opus | A Life of Impact

Mr. Holland had a vision to write a symphony that would be enjoyed and appreciated by the public, serving as his legacy. Longing to become a composer, he labored for years playing bar mitzvahs & weddings to provide for his less than perfect family and fund his passion. Necessity led him to become a band director. This scene captures a moment when despair could have closed out the last life’s chapter. However; he came to realize that his life’s greatest work was not music, nor public acclaim. His life’s ultimate accomplishment was the emboldened and enriched lives–of students, teachers, administrators, public figures and his own wife and deaf son. The character is fictional; but his life experience parallels many FCCI members.

Like many, his vision was never fulfilled until he was surrounded by a crowd of people in whom he had invested decades of his life. He helped them realize their own potential–and they closed the loop by serving as witnesses and participants in the first public performance, where the refreshed composer took the conductor’s baton…