B.Mus. in Music Education, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska (1975)
M.A. in Music, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana (1978)
BMI—Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop Weist-Barron School

Principal Teachers:
Richard Rodney Bennett, Maury Yeston, Bert Konowitz, David Bell, John Brandstetter and Skip Kennon.

Recognitions Received:
State of Nebraska for arrangement of Beautiful Nebraska, the official state song (1975)
Mabel Mercer Foundation, 2nd Carabet Convention (1981)
Special Citation for Outstanding Participation in the 7th Annual Stop Arthritis Telethon (1991)

Robert "Buck" Buchholz grew up in Shelby, Nebraska and studied piano with Wanda Benda in grade school. He played piano for Sunday School and Vacation Bible School at Evangelical United Brethren Church, and organ at United Methodist Church, both in Shelby. During his college years he played organ for the Havelock United Methodist Church in Lincoln, Nebraska.

He attended college at the University of Nebraska, where he played baritone in the university marching band, and played piano and did many musical arrangements for the Scarlet And Cream Singers. Buchholz continued to work with "Scarlet And Cream" throughout his career, and was writing an arrangement for the group at the time of his death. After getting his masters degree at Ball State University, he organized a small group called The Grand Traverse Express, which toured the country for two years before disbanding in 1979.

Buchholz then moved to New York and developed a career as a featured performer at numerous Manhattan cabarets, restaurants and hotels, including the Rose Room of the Algonquin Hotel (where he had a seven-year run), The Duplex, Four Seasons, Plaza Hotel, Maxim's, Omni Park, Les Tuileries, La Bibliotheque, Mortimer's, One If By Land, Ruppert's, Jan Wallman's, Reno Sweeney, The Duplex, Waverly & Waverly, Agora, Water's Edge, Peninsula Hotel and Atrium Club. He also played private engagements for many people including Barbara Walters, Henry Kissinger, Roy Cohn, Helene von Damm (then U.S. Ambassador to Austria), Laurence Tisch, Norman Mailer and Donald Trump.

He performed frequently with Tim Cahill as the comedy duo Cahill & Buck, serving also as musical director for their appearances at Reno Sweeney and The Bottom Line in New York as well as venues in Washington, Philadelphia and other cities.

Among the singers with whom he worked were Annie Ross, Eartha Kitt, Margaret Whiting, Ellen Foley and Lanie Kazan.

Buchholz composed, arranged and recorded scores for two of Charles Schultz's Peanuts touring shows, Snoopy's Workout and Christmas and Our World. His film and television work included an original score for the documentary Greetings from Washington, DC and participation in Tribute to Richard Rodgers (PBS). He also composed and/or performed for commercials and industrials, including Maxwell House Coffee, All My Children (ABC), "No, No, She Won't" (MTV) and "Stop Arthritis Telethon" (WNET).

He performed at many AIDS benefits, including some of the earliest such events at The Duplex and Eighty-Eights, and Manhattan Plaza Artists Against AIDS.

Robert "Buck" Buchholz died of AIDS in New York at the age of 40 on June 27, 1994.
—Nurit Tilles

WORKS:

SONGS
Music and lyrics by Robert Buchholz except where noted

Caution
Christmas in Bed (lyrics by Drew Scott Harris)
Desert Drift
Homecoming
Meadow
Memories of Childhood
Nimbus
Once Before You Go
Pathetique
Spring Rush
Street Survivor (lyrics by Elliot Meyers)
Strong Feelings
True Commitment
True Feelings
Water Cycle
Well Worn Path

MUSICAL THEATRE

Gold
note: Listed in an undated resume as "new musical." No further information available. An article by Gerald Wade in the Omaha World-Herald (date unknown) is titled "Buck Buchholz Is Co-Writing Olympic Musical"; this may have been Gold.

ARRANGEMENTS

Accapello
published: Jensen Publications

All At Once
published: Alamo Music Corp.

American Pop
published: Jensen Publications

Beautiful Nebraska (official state song)
date: 1975

Country Melody
published: G. Schirmer

Hello
published: Jensen Publications

Jesus Is Love
published: Jensen Publications

Laura
published: Robbin

Let Me Be There
published: Plymouth

Love Is
performed: St. John's Roman Catholic Church, Honesdale, NY 5/95
note: Buchholz's last choral arrangement.

Love Lifted Me
published: Jensen Publications

Mercy, Mercy, Mercy
published: Plymouth

Peace In The Valley
published: Jensen Publications

Play A Sing Along Song
published: Theodore Presser Co.

Razzamatazz
published: Alamo Music Corp.

Something In Your Eyes
published: Irving Music

The Way We Were
published: Jensen Publications

UNCOMPLETED WORKS:
Unknown

WRITINGS:
Unpublished 11-page memoir written by Buchholz in 1994, a few months before his death.

DISCOGRAPHY:
Buck Buchholz, solo piano and vocals. JB Records JBR 19891 (CD 1989).
   I've Got The World On A String (Harold Arlen/Ted Koehler)
   I Should Care (Sammy Cahn/Axel Stordahl/Paul Weston)
   They Can't Take That Away From Me (George Gershwin/Ira Gershwin)
   I Wish I'd Met You (Richard Rodney Bennett/Frank Underwood/Johnny Mandel)
   Killing Time (Carolyn Leigh/Jule Styne)
   Old Friend (Gretchen Cryer/Nancy Ford)
   Once Before You Go (Robert Buchholz)
   The Great Pretender (Buck Ram)
   Got No Time (Gus Kahn/Richard Whiting)
   Forever (Daniel Boe/Robert Jenkins)
   Someone To Watch Over Me (George Gershwin/Ira Gershwin)
   All I Need To Know (Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil/Tom Snow)
   Desperado (Glen Frey/Don Henley)
   You Don't Know Me (Cindy Walker/Eddy Arnold)
   Christmas in Bed (Robert Buchholz/Drew Scott Harris)

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• "Homerun" by Howard Thompson, Going Out Guide, New York Times, February 7, 1980.
• "String of Pearls" by Howard Thompson, Going Out Guide, New York Times, March 27, 1980.
• "Nebraska in Neon" by Howard Thompson, Going Out Guide, New York Times, July 15, 1980.
• "Jazz Pianos: 88 Keys to the City" by John S. Wilson, Weekend, New York Times, February 1, 1985.
• "Ever A Hotel Where Heart Is In Its Lobby" by Stephen Drucker, Weekend, New York Times, January 18, 1991.
• "Chatterbox" column by Claire Edwards, Brooklyn Bay News, October 1, 1984.
• "Midlanders Three and NYC" by Carolyn Fitz-Gerald, The Midlands Magazine, May 19, 1985.
• "Grand Piano Rooms: Somewhere in New York They're Playing Your Song" by Jacqueline Friederick, Travel and Leisure, New York Times, January 1988.
• (title of article and name of author unknown), City Guide, February 25, 1988.
• (title of article and name of author unknown), Focus Section, Lincoln Journal-Star (Lincoln, Nebraska), June 8, 1986.
• "Cabaret Singer Scales New York Music Scene" by Kyle MacMillon, Omaha World-Herald (date unknown).
• "Buck Buchholz Is Co-Writing Olympic Musical — Where Are They Now" by Gerald Wade, Omaha World-Herald (date unknown).
• "Cabaret Singer Scales New York Music Scene" by Kyle MacMillan, World-Herald (date unknown).
• Featured in Us Magazine during early years of AIDS epidemic (according to Tim Cahill).
• Obituary, New York Times, July 7, 1994.
• Obituary, Polk County News (Nebraska), July 8, 1994.

PERFORMING RIGHTS AFFILIATION:
ASCAP

RESOURCES:
Unknown

MUSICAL EXECUTOR:
Unknown

OTHER CONTACTS:
Daniel Boe (composer and friend)
201 East 17th Street #27A
New York, NY 10003
(212) 254-3416

Opal I. Buchholz (mother)
7420 South Street #23
Lincoln, NE 68506
(402) 488-8468
oibuchholz@hotmail.com

Tim Cahill (performer and friend)
117 Bank Street #12A
New York, NY 10014
(212) 691-4595