Guest Artist

Karen Houghton

Karen Houghton has been a private horn instructor for over forty years. Many of her former students now hold teaching and playing positions across the country. Karen enjoys teaching all levels and loves to see every student reach his or her potential on the horn. Karen, along with her colleague, Janet B. Nye, are highly sought after horn pedagogues. Together, they have presented engaging and informative clinics at universities, music educator conventions and horn symposiums throughout the United States. They are co-authorsof “Recipe For Success: A balanced curriculum for young horn players,” a comprehensive method book for the first three to five years of playing. The book has received international acclaim and is heralded as being “...the best and most extensive horn method to come out in a long time.” Karen has held positions in orchestras in the United States, Colombia and Germany. Currently, in addition to freelancing in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, Karen is an owner of Houghton Horns, a brass pro-shop in Keller, Texas that was founded in 1985. As an educational consultant for Houghton Horns, Karen maintains a large private studio and has had over a hundred students place in Texas All-State ensembles. Karen holds a degree in Horn Performance from California State University, Long Beach. Her teachers and mentors include: Ed Jackson, Fred Fox, James Decker, Philip Farkas, Michael Hoeltzel and William Scharnberg.