HOLT, Henry

The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson, Arizona October 7, 1997, page 8A Deceased Name: Arizona Opera artist Henry Holt dies at 63 Henry Holt, a noted conductor and the artistic director of Arizona Opera's first Ring cycle in Flagstaff, died Saturday at University of Virginia Medical Center. He was 63. The cause of death was pneumonia, a complication of the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma he had battled for six years. Beginning in January 1993, Holt conducted Arizona Opera productions of all but one of Wagner's four Ring operas in Tucson and Phoenix. He was scheduled to conduct the entire Ring production in Flagstaff in 1996, but served only as artistic director because of health reasons; he would have held the same title for this summer's Arizona Opera Ring, too. All told, Holt, who was also the Seattle Opera's music director from 1966 to 1984, conducted 15 Arizona Opera productions from 1986 to 1995. Reached yesterday, Glynn Ross, Arizona Opera's general director, praised Holt's contributions to the company. 'I've known Henry for 40 years. He was almost like a son to me,' Ross said. Holt, a native Viennese, and his musical family fled to Los Angeles shortly before World War II. He began piano lessons at age 6, studied music theory and counterpoint and began accompanying and coaching singers when he was 13. He and Ross first met when Ross stage-directed opera productions at Los Angeles City College 40 years ago. Holt played clarinet in the pit. Shortly thereafter, Holt went to Germany for two years to learn the opera business; he returned to become director of the Portland Opera Company. He resumed contact with Ross, who had since become general director of the Seattle Opera, and before long was leading that company's chorus. One of Holt's biggest breaks in Seattle came when Ross engaged him to conduct an English-language version of Wagner's ''Lohengrin.'' (At the time, the company was producing Wagner in original-language and English productions, and Wolfgang Martin, the conductor of the German-language version, had taught Holt the opera.) 'Henry said he wanted to do it,' Ross said. 'I gambled. It was one of the best gambles I've ever made.' Holt subsequently helped Ross mount the Pacific Northwest Wagner Festival, at which he conducted Wagner's Ring cycle for 10 seasons. Along the way, he conducted numerous productions of North American opera companies, led orchestral performances and became an active advocate for arts education. Holt is survived by his wife, the singer Rebecca Ravenshaw-Holt of Warrenton, Va.; her two children, Kitran and Devin Colwell; his sister, Lucy Horwitz of Boston; his niece, Celia Pool of Los Angeles; and his nephew, Gavin Perry of St. Louis.