Rachel Horvitz
Orchestra Director
rachel.r.horvitz@austinisd.org

Rachel Horvitz received her Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of Texas at Austin in 2001. While at UT she studied under distinguished cello professor Phyllis Young and regularly performed with the UT Cello Choir and the UT Symphony, along with teaching in the UT String Project. In 2013 she earned a Masters in Secondary Education from Texas State University as part of the Partnership for Teacher Excellence Program sponsored by the Eanes Education Foundation. Ms. Horvitz has just concluded her twenty-first year of teaching in the Austin public schools, including Director of Orchestras at Hill Country Middle School in Eanes ISD from 2008 to 2021 and previously at Lamar Middle School in Austin ISD from 2001 to 2008. During her tenure at HCMS the Hill Country Middle School Full Orchestra was named the Texas Music Educators Association Full Honor Orchestra. The HCMS Full Orchestra went on to earn an invitation to perform at the 71st Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference in December 2017. She has coached with Longhorn Music Camp and the Austin Chamber Music Center, served as conducting faculty with the Austin Youth Orchestra, and currently serves as a region clinician and UIL adjudicator in Central Texas. Her professional memberships include Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Orchestra Directors Association and Texas Music Adjudicators Association. Ms. Horvitz has dedicated much of her free time to performing in local orchestras and chamber groups including Temple and Georgetown Symphony and Musical Discovery Chamber Players. In her spare time she enjoys reading, listening to records, making the perfect cup of coffee, gardening and planning her next trip to the beach.