Flute
MM, Indiana University School of Music
BFA, SUNY Purchase
David B. Houston is an active teacher and performer in the greater Boston area. Mr. Houston has been a featured performer on WQXR radio’s McGraw Hills Young Artist Showcase and was first runner-up in the 1992 Myrna Brown Flute Competition in Arlington, TX. He has been a member of The Queens Philharmonic Orchestra, The Owensboro Symphony Orchestra, and Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife, Spain. He has been featured in chamber music performances at Barge Music Ltd. in Brooklyn, NY and a featured soloist at The National Flute Association conventions. Mr. Houston has also been a member of Atlantic Chamber Music of NYC, Saint Adelbert’s Chamber Ensemble of NYC, Riverview Chamber Players of Boston and was co-founder of A Flute Soirée of NYC. He has been a guest speaker and solo recitalist at Radford University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, and during the 2011 season Mr. Houston will appear at West Virginia University’s “Fall Flute Fling”.
A native of New York City, Mr. Houston graduated from the High School of Music and Art. He then received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in flute performance from the State University of New York at Purchase and a Master of Music degree in flute performance from Indiana University at Bloomington where he was an Associate Instructor of Flute. His teachers include, Harold Bennett, Nadine Asin, Judith Mendenhall, Carol Wincenc and Peter Lloyd. Mr. Houston was a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at Indiana University when he accepted the position of Marketing Director for Verne Q. Powell Flutes, Inc. in 1990. He was Director of Customer Service, Finisher and Headjoint Tester when he left Powell Flutes in 1998 to work for Brannen Brothers Flute Makers, Inc. until 2007 when he was asked to return to Powell Flutes as Director of Quality, a position he retired from in 2010 to return to his first love of teaching and performing.
In January, 2011 he joined the flute faculty at Boston Flute Academy and is also on faculty at The Performing Arts Center of Metro West. He often coaches flute sectionals for the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, and has served on the preliminary and final judging panels for the James Pappoutsakis Annual Memorial Competition.
An addition to his extensive musical training, Mr. Houston has a background in acting and improv theatre. Having completed classes in acting for film and TV at C.P. Casting in Boston and theatre improv levels I-V at ImprovBoston, Mr. Houston adapts and incorporates these methods into techniques appropriate for musical study in order to help students explore and develop their own musical style and interpretation.