French Horn - Emily Houston

Emily Houston is a recent graduate (May 2021) from the Eastman School of Music (Rochester, NY), where she earned a Master of Music in Horn Performance and Literature.  Alongside her degree, she earned a prestigious Performers Certificate.  She studied primarily with W. Peter Kurau, but also had the opportunity to study with Bill VerMeulen, Maura McCune Corvington, and Jacek Muzyk. While at Eastman, Emily played with both the Eastman Philharmonia and the esteemed Eastman Wind Ensemble, America’s first established wind ensemble.  Outside of the rehearsal hall, Emily taught the instrumental methods course for horn, as well as served as a Secondary Professor of Horn at the University of Rochester. She also served as Vice President of the Graduate Students Association. In Rochester, Emily played with many local orchestras. Before earning her masters degree, Emily graduated Magna Cum Laude from Texas Christian University (Ft. Worth, Texas) in 2018 with a BM in Horn Performance.

During her time at TCU, Emily served as Principal Horn for both the TCU Wind Symphony and the TCU Symphony Orchestra, where she was awarded Musician of the Year in 2018. She studied with Heather Test.

Currently, Mrs. Houston is a substitute horn for the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.

Emily works as a private lesson instructor in Keller and Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School Districts. She is taking professional auditions as they come up, hoping to win a job with a symphony orchestra. 

Before college, Emily was a student in Keller ISD.  She was a Drum Major for the TCHS Marching Band in 2012 and 2013. Outside of school, Emily played principal horn with the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra where she had the opportunity to perform as a guest section member with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. She went on two international tours with GDYO, once in 2012 to Germany and again in 2015 to China. Emily was also honored to be selected as a TMEA All-State Musician in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, ranking first in the state in 2011 and 2014.

After the completion of her undergraduate degree, Emily married her high school sweetheart, Rhett.