Noah White-Telles

Director of Orchestras

Mr. Noah White-Telles will begin his second year as the orchestra director at Hogg Middle School in Houston ISD. In his first year, his passion and dedication earned the orchestra its first UIL Sweepstakes in the school's one-hundred-year history and grew the program from around twenty students to over 120. 

Mr. White-Telles earned a bachelor's degree in music education from Texas State University, where he studied viola under the tutelage of Dr. Ames Asbell, served as principal violist of the Texas State Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Dr. Jacob Harrison, was president of the American String Teacher’s Association student chapter, and served as faculty for the string project. 

In addition to teaching, Mr. White-Telles actively performs on viola as an orchestral and chamber musician. He has performed with Brazos Valley Symphony, Central Texas Philharmonic, El Paso Ballet Theatre, El Ballet de la Comedia, and Brazosport Symphony. He is a violist for Siren Strings Texas Quartet and Musical Discovery Chamber Players of Austin. He has been lucky enough to perform in Mexico, Disneyland, and the Lincoln Center in New York City.

Mr. White-Telles has been a clinician at schools and summer string camps across Texas, including the Texas State University String Camp, Ysleta ISD Orchestra Camp, Texas State University Viola Festival, Socorro ISD Orchestra Camp, and Comal ISD. 

Mr. White-Telles is—at his core—a dedicated teacher. His mission is to give back to the community by reaching students, perpetuating a legacy of teaching directly passed down from Ivan Galamian, William Primrose, Shinichi Suzuki, and Arturo Toscanini through many notable teachers, including Ida Steadman. He believes in lifelong learning and attends annual conferences with the American String Teacher’s Association, Texas Orchestra Directors’ Association, and Texas Music Educators Association. Finally, he expects the highest level of excellence in his classroom environment that promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion of students from all backgrounds 

When not pursuing musical endeavors, Mr. White-Telles enjoys cooking, hiking, camping, shopping for antiques, and playing with his adorable pet rabbit named Indigo. Finally, he loves dark chocolate and sour candy.