Artistic Director - Dr. Justin Smith

Dr. Justin Smith serves as Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Houston Moores School of Music, where he conducts the Concert Womens Chorus and the University Mens Chorus. Previously, he served as Director of Music at St. Philip Presbyterian Church in Houston, where he conducted and supervised four ensembles, included the well-regarded St. Philip Choir, and oversaw a thriving music program. In the summer of 2010, he founded the Houston Cecilia Chamber Choir, a select ensemble of thirty-eight accomplished singers already garnering acclaim for its excellence. The Houston Cecilia will present the Houston premiere of Leonard Bernstein's MASS next Spring, as well as perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Dr. Smith's work with Cecilia was recently praised by renowned composer Morten Lauridsen, who hailed his "excellent" choirs, calling a recent performance of his O nata lux "one of the most beautiful performances I’ve ever heard of this piece.” He also created the Music at St. Philip concert series.

He holds the DMA in Choral Conducting from the Moores School of Music, where he studied with Charles Hausmann and Betsy Cook Weber. While there, he directed the University Men's Chorus and served as the assistant conductor for the Houston Symphony Chorus, Concert Chorale and Choral Artists. He is a noted scholar of American choral music of the twentieth century, having been published twice in Choral Journal on works of Marc Blitzstein and Vincent Persichetti.

He was the recipient of prestigious Moores School Fellowships for several years, and was also inducted into Pi Kappa Lamda while at UH. Prior to coming to Houston, Dr. Smith taught and conducted in Boston for many years, serving as Music Director of the Braintree Choral Society and the Nashoba Valley Chorale and teaching at St. Sebastian's School. He holds further degrees in music from Wesleyan University and the University of Oregon.

Dr. Smith is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, the Texas Music Educators Association, and the Texas Choral Directors Association. He and his wife Cristina reside in the Houston Heights with their two beautiful young sons Alex and Nicholas.