Aaron Houston composes music that lives where the energetic soul of rock, folk music, and more collides with his classical training in unexpected ways to create what Ellen Taaffe Zwilich has labeled a “strong voice in composition” and reviews have said “[feels] alive and tangible to the audience” (Emily McCarthy, Tallahassee Democrat.

His sinfonietta, Midway to Midtown (2019), merges the influences of Texas Blues legend Stevie Ray Vaughan with “brilliant orchestration” (George Tsontakis) and was premiered by David Alan Miller and the Albany Symphony. Other projects include Dog Days (2022), written for and premiered by the Atlantic Brass Quintet as an exciting exploration of Texas summers, and Rude Moods (2021) for solo bassoon, commissioned by a consortium of soloists led by Ryan Reynolds of the Akropolis Reed Quintet.

Houston’s music has been commissioned and performed by the Albany Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Winds, Fifth House Ensemble, the University Symphony Orchestra at Florida State University, Baltimore Choral Arts Society, the Baylor Symphony Orchestra and more with performances in Germany, Brazil, and across the United States. Nominated for an award from the Academy of Arts & Letters, Houston has also been a finalist for the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards, finalist for the American Prize in Composition, winner of the Dallas Winds Fanfare Contest, Honorable Mention for the International Horn Society Composition Contest, finalist for the Verdant Vibes 2019 Call for Scores, winner of the Civitasolis Quintet 2020 Call for Scores, and winner of the 2015 Baylor University Orchestra Composition Contest.

Houston holds degrees in composition from Baylor University and Florida State University where he was the recipient of the 2017-18 Ellen Taaffe Zwilich Fellowship for orchestral composition. His mentors have included Stephen Montague, Scott McAllister, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Clifton Callender and Ladislav Kubik.