Welcome to the Moores School of Music String Division! Committed to excellence, our internationally renowned faculty provides our students with an outstanding and personal educational experience. Global in scope, we pride ourselves on educating our students with the necessary skills to succeed in a diverse and modern musical landscape, whether it’s a performance career path, music education degree, an entrepreneurial route, or a position in the field of arts administration. Our multi-faceted approach to a 21st-century musical education enables students to forge unique and exceptional paths while fully exploring their inner creative potential. Please email or call to learn more about our comprehensive programs! #GoCoogs
Faculty and Staff - University of Houston (uh.edu)
Scholarships
Scholarships are available for students at all levels of study who demonstrate outstanding accomplishment and promise. For nonresident students, merit-based scholarships may make a student eligible to receive a tuition waiver resulting in Texas resident tuition rate. A variety of teaching assistantships is available for qualified graduate students.
Qualified graduate applicants may be considered for a String Department TA position, a Musicology or Music Theory TA position , or for inclusion in the Tomatz Graduate String Quartet, which offers a graduate scholarship position.
Select Strings Courses
Applied Music Pedagogy
Orchestral Repertoire
String Events
We believe that exposure to outstanding artists in the professional world is essential to growth and development, and we invite guest artists from around the world to our campus to work with our students. Recent guest artists include:
- Violin: Rachel Barton Pine (International Performance Artist), Simon James (San Francisco Conservatory), Lucie Robert (Manhattan School of Music), Kristóf Baráti (International Soloist and Recording Artist), Shirley Givens (Peabody Conservatory), Elizabeth Blumenstock (Baroque Violinist)
- Viola: James Dunham (Rice University), Katherine Plummer (Vanderbilt University), Ivo van der Werff (Rice University)
- Cello: Paul York (University of Louisville), Istvan Vardai (Music Academy of Vienna), Suren Bagratuni (Michigan State University)
- Double Bass: Paul Ellison (Rice University), François Rabbath (International Recording Artist and Teacher), Hal Robinson (Principal Bass, Philadelphia Orchestra)
Symphony Orchestra
The Moores School Symphony Orchestra provides our students with a world-class exploration of music that encompasses overtures, symphonies, operas, tone poems, blockbuster hits and exquisite hidden gems. Core repertoire ranging from early classical works through modern masterpieces, take the stage next to ground-breaking contemporary world premieres. Through the course of a year, students experience symphonic literature, award-winning opera productions, collaborations with Houston Ballet Academy and chamber orchestral concerts. Performances are showcased in the majestic Moores Opera House, a state-of-the-art concert hall with stellar acoustics. The Moores School Symphony Orchestra is open to all UH students by audition.
Chamber Music
In Chamber ensembles, students study literature written for smaller, more intimate groups. Whether working in a quintet, quartet, trio or duo, students benefit from coachings focused on tonal blending, score knowledge, communication, listening skills, intonation and musical expression.
AURA Contemporary Ensemble
Dedicated to innovative performances of contemporary chamber music, AURA utilizes theatrical lighting, projections and electronics in their concerts and frequently collaborates with actors, authors, dancers and visual artists.