Aaron Guillory, a participant in the 22nd season of the Texas Music Festival summer music residency program at the University of Houston Moores School of Music June 6-July 2, is the first in his family to graduate from college, much less earn a Master's Degree in Music from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.
TMF auditioned 435 (up from 350 last year) musicians from all over the U.S. and the world and selected 95 for the Festival Orchestra. Aaron Guillory, who grew up in Kemah, was one of 44 percussion musicians who applied to Texas Music Festival this year and one of 6 who was accepted into the prestigious summer music training program at University of Houston Moores School of Music.
Here's Aaron's story, in brief:Aaron Guillory, Percussion - He was born in Pasadena Memorial Hospital and grew up in Kemah, graduating from Clear Creek High School.
Percussion instruments are perfect for Aaron, who says he would get “stir crazy” doing one thing over and over again. He plays and practices a host of instruments and excels at them all: timpani, xylophone, marimba, castanets, cymbals, the triangle, the snare drum, the Bass Drum, woodblocks, gongs, and chimes -- “anything you can hit,” he chimes in. His love affair with percussion instruments began with a drum set his father had stowed away in the garage. When Aaron was 9, he persuaded his Dad to set up the drums in the house. Aaron later learned that not only had his dad, Wallace Guillory, had been a drummer in a rock ‘n roll band as a teenager, but his paternal grandmother, Jackie Sweetser, had played drums in a country band in the Houston and Conroe areas as a young woman. “I had a natural desire to play drums,” Aaron admits. Aaron’s family encouraged him to find something he was good at and stick with it. With Wallace being a railroad man and his mother a bus driver, they knew their son would need scholarship assistance to go to college. Aaron’s musical talent opened the doors to him to attend Baylor University for his undergraduate degree and Rice University Shepherd School of Music for his master’s degree on full scholarship. He is the first in his family to graduate college. He has served as a substitute in the Houston Symphony and is thrilled to have been accepted into the Texas Music Festival (TMF) to study with Houston Symphony percussionists Matthew (Matt) Strauss and Brian Del Signore. “They are awesome teachers and players,” he said.
Aaron graduated with his masters degree from Rice and will be teaching at his alma mater, Clear Creek High School, this fall. He plans to audition for symphony positions for his new career and is considering pursuing a PhD.
