Those early encounters created a lifelong passion and calling, which Houze answered at a young age. He founded and conducted the Hattiesburg Junior Pops Orchestra while still only a student. Funded by the city, the ensemble gave youth from a tri-county area access to an unparalleled opportunity for artistic exposure and expression. He also conducted orchestras made up of professional musicians for local theater productions.

 

In 1995, Houze shared the stage with and received early encouragement from Emmy Award-winning conductor Ian Fraser at the Warner Theater in Washington, DC, for Disney’s American Teacher Awards. Later, Houze would also be recognized by The American Prize for excellence in the arts in Conducting.

 

Houze moved on to earn bachelor and master’s degrees in music from Southern Mississippi and New York University. He earned his doctorate in conducting from the University of South Carolina, with additional study in conducting with Maestro Kenneth Kiesler at the University of Michigan, as well as conducting study at the Eastman School of Music, the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and the Hartt School of Music. Houze’s education and experience prepared him for time spent on conducting faculties at Clemson, Southern Mississippi, and other educational institutions.

 

Maestro Houze uses music as a vehicle to inspire, and as an art form to be experienced by all. From his grandfather, The Reverend Sam Hall, Houze inherited a deep consciousness of social justice and advocacy. Rev. Hall was one of 14 witnesses in United States v. Lynd, a lawsuit won by President John F. Kennedy’s Justice Department in 1961 that granted black citizens of Forrest County, Mississippi, voting rights, and served as a model for other changes in the South and influenced the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

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In his 2010 Carnegie Hall debut, Houze drew upon that consciousness when he journeyed with a group of talented Title I student musicians from the Creative and Performing Arts School in Memphis, Tennessee. He led them, many of whom had never left Tennessee, in works ranging from Mozart to Walton. He attended to and motivated the musicians as individuals and as an ensemble—a remarkable feat. Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Kirk Whalum joined the group for a featured performance. All told, their performance was lauded for both its refined agility and sonic grandeur, and Whalum enthused that Maestro Houze’s “musicianship, as well as his positive and motivational impact on the players, was evident for all to see.”

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In 2018, Tony Award-winning actress Phylicia Rashad recruited Maestro Houze to be Music Coordinator for Workshops in Open Fields, the summer literacy program at historic Brainerd Institute in Chester, South Carolina. There he introduced an array of music and song through stories and the oral tradition to children, working to ignite sparks of curiosity and a love for the arts in a new generation.

 

Audiences have declared “His music is life to your heart and soul!” Whether through performances given at Edinburgh Festival Fringe or at historic Mechanics Hall, listeners find themselves moved by Houze’s dramatic interpretations and dynamic musicianship, even if they do not recognize its source.

 

Musicians who work with Maestro Houze and follow his baton, experience a conductor of intelligence and clarity of vision. He doesn’t challenge, he inspires. With a twinkle-in-the-eye wit, he leads musicians to perform at strata that reach for the sublime. Douglas Yeo, the former Principal Bass Trombonist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, offered this remark after collaborating with Maestro Houze: “He seemed to bring the best out of the [musicians] and had a palpable and professional enthusiasm that was clearly evident to me.”

 

As a rehearsal technician, Maestro Houze is uncompromising. His technique is superb—succinct, expressive, and well-studied. His experience as an instrumentalist and vocalist gives him true insight into the profundity of any composition, for his musicality is second to none. There are few better. He is the Maestro Profundo.

— Julie Isgrigg