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Holly Collis Handford (she/her) is a Canadian composer and performance artist who aims to uplift and inspire through music. Her compositions have been featured in several premieres of new musicals including Gillty as Fin, an underwater comedy premiering at Studio 58 (2024), Waiting For Garbo, an environmental activism musical with Curious Creations Theatre (2023), and Axis Theatre’s outdoor Commedia dell’arte production Juggle Me Not (2021). Holly is a member of the sketch comedy group Riot, with whom she performed original music in Just For Laughs’ 2025 Best of the West programming, and her music direction and arrangement for White Rock Players’ Club’s Casablanca was nominated for the 2025 Cleo Award ‘Music to my Ears.’ In 2024 Holly wrote and premiered the short film Late Bloomer, a story that reframes discovering queerness as the solution to a problem rather than the cause, for which she composed the score.
Holly served for three years as composer for Vancouver Opera’s Project Opera program developing original works with elementary school students, and for two years as music director for Arts Umbrella’s youth Musical Theatre Intensive. Holly has performed with companies such as the Greater Victoria Shakespeare Festival (2019 season) and The Improv Centre (mainstage ensemble 2022-2024). She toured nationally with Axis Theatre’s The Troll Grandfather (2023) performing on accordion and puppeteering a nine-foot dragon. Her most recent theatre performance credits include playing Anybodys in West Side Story (CTORA 2025) and Skimbleshanks in Cats (Theatre Under the Stars 2024). Originally from Vancouver Island, Holly holds an ARCT in Classical Voice Performance from Canada’s Royal Conservatory of Music and a BFA in Acting from the University of British Columbia. She is currently based in New York City completing her Master’s of Music Composition at Mannes School of Music. |
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