Holly Roadfeldt-O'Riordan holds degrees in piano performance from the Eastman School of Music, Indiana University, and the University of Colorado in Boulder. As a soloist, she made her orchestral debut with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra at the age of 13 and has also appeared with the University of Colorado Orchestra, the Eastman Musica Nova Ensemble, the Indiana University Wind Ensemble, and the Lamont Symphony Orchestra. In addition, she has performed two concertos with the University of Colorado Wind Ensemble under the direction of Allan McMurray including a performance of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue at the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles Conference in Hamamatsu, Japan. The performance was recorded live and subsequently released by the Kosei Publishing Company of Tokyo, Japan as part of the WASBE Concerts, 1995 compact disc. An excerpt of the performance was also broadcast on Japanese National Television as part of the 1995 WASBE Conference Highlights.

A dedicated performer of contemporary music, Dr. Roadfeldt-O'Riordan has premiered over 70 works for solo piano and for various chamber ensembles. In 1996, she was awarded the prize for the "Best Performance of a 20th Century American Composition" in the Frinna Awerbuch International Piano Competition which resulted in a performance in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Additional contemporary music honors include being a semi-finalist in the Concert Artists Guild International Competition in 1998 and 2001 as a contemporary music specialist.

Active as a chamber musician and as a soloist, Dr. Roadfeldt-O'Riordan has performed across the United States as well as in Europe and in Asia. She has performed with members of the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic, the Colorado Orchestra, and the Utah Symphony as well as with concert artists Alexa Still, Bonita Boyd, and Marcia Baldwin. As a solo pianist, Dr. Roadfeldt-O'Riordan performs standard and eclectic recital programs and was one of twelve selected pianists to compete in the World International Competition held in Santa Fe, New Mexico in the fall of 2007.

Prior to teaching at the University of Delaware, Dr. Roadfeldt-O'Riordan taught at Susquehanna University and at Glendale Community College, Chandler-Gilbert Community College, and Paradise Valley Community College. She was also an instructor of piano at the University of Colorado-Boulder and at Indiana University.

Dr. Roadfeldt-O'Riordan has numerous intellectual curiosities and has taught applied piano, piano pedagogy, piano literature, collaborative piano, piano sight reading, class piano, music theory, and music history at the collegiate level. Additional research interests include studying the music of Nicolai Kapustin; the expressionist music of Arnold Schoenberg and Alban Berg; and the performance of concert etudes written for solo piano. Dr. Roadfeldt-O'Riordan is also particularly interested in how social issues are conveyed through music. In 2005, she designed a course called "Contemporary Musical Activism" which explored various musics of the 20th and 21st centuries. This course was taught by Dr. Roadfeldt-O'Riordan in the spring semesters of 2005 through 2008.