Music For People Who Are Awake

The Music of William Houston has been among the leaders of the pack of alternative classical composers (a term I coined) since the early 80's. My chamber opera The XTC of Saint Teresa premiered in 1984, is one of the pioneering works of post minimalism. My opera Consumers' Paradise premiered in Long Beach in 2001 by Downtown Opera, before the "inside job" known as 9-11, spoofed the house of cards economy we now see collapsing around us.

The long-awaited (LOL)re-release of the legendary recordings by DOMES, (1987-1990) featuring excerpts from Tarotterror. Now available on Soundclick for only $7.99 American dollars!

BUY TITLING RIGHTS TO MY MUSIC! Following the examples of the LA Phil and sports organizations, I am now granting naming rights to my compositions. This means that for a fee, you can put your name, or the name of your business on my compositions in perpetuity. As an example, a piece of mine such as "Moon Mistress" will be retitled "Bill's Plumbing" if Bill pays the requisite fee for that piece. Fees for all titling rights are set be me and are based on such considerations as the length of the composition and its presumed popularity. All of the music will still be owned by me, but you have the option of putting any title that you choose on the piece whose titling rights you pay for. This would also be the perfect gift for s music lover. For a list of fees or more information contact me at whouston09@yahoo.com.

NEW RELEASE!: Instrumentations 1982-2009. Volume I. This is the first of 3 volumes. For my excellent handful of fans (what brave, discriminating people you are!) you may recognize some of the tunes which have been renamed. Imagine how many classically trained musicians could get work if this music became popular. If you think this music deserves to survive in the world, or you'd like to help me raise money for live performances, PLEASE MAKE A DONATION! or buy some mp3's.

My ensemble DOMES, a better group, in my humble opinion than the Cartesian Reunion Memorial Orchestra, (LOL) of which I was a founding member, was active in Southern California from 1985 to 1990. The William Houston Ensemble performed regularly in LA in the late 90's. Please donate a dollar or two in fiat currency to this site. Soundclick

DOMES: Martin Tardif, electric bass, vocals; Jeff Fairbanks, vocals, percussion; Steve LaCoste, flute, percussion; Diane Barkauskas, Keyboard, accordion; Joe Bouchard, guitar; Brian Beshore, violin; Dave Black, string bass; Eric Bergkvist, bass trombone; Chuck Estes, keyboard; William Houston, keyboard, vocals; Mary Thompson, Christina Tardif, Michael Coleman, Alysse Sanner, Stuart Miller vocals.

DOMES live at Safari Sam's (Special thanks Gil Fuhrer and Sam Lanni) feature: Christina Tardif, soprano, Tony the Baritone, baritone, Mike Coleman, bass, Stuart Miller plays the fool, Diane Barkauskas, keyboard and horn, Chuck Estes and William Houston, keyboards, Martin Tardif, bass, Jeff Fairbanks, drums, Eric Berkgvist, bass trombone, vocals, Joe Bouchard, guitar.

The William Houston Ensemble: Alan Lechusza, saxes; Diane Barkauskas, accordion; William Houston, keyboard.

Ensemble of the Dreamings: Martin Herman, David Ortega, Adriana Verdie, William Houston, composers. Christen Herman, Kim Switzer, vocals.

Cartesian Reunion Memorial Orchestra: Lloyd Rodgers, keyboard, sax, clarinet; Steve Moshier, vibes; Michael Beyer, cello; Doug Hein, guitar; John Glenn, bass; Chuck Estes, keyboard; William Houston, keyboard.