Tanya Houghton

Tanya is a musician who lives, works and makes music in Northern Ireland, her adopted country, of which she is very fond. Originally from Birmingham, she studied in Cambridge, London and Paris before embarking on a career that has taken her far across the physical world and all around the musical world in ways she could never have imagined.

Tanya has always enjoyed many styles and genres of music and plays several instruments as well as conducting, singing, teaching and organising music and concerts. She has over 20 years of professional experience as a high-level concert harpist, in which role she has been lucky to play for symphony orchestras, chamber groups, choirs and as an accompanist and soloist. A keen singer from a young age, she particularly enjoys where these worlds combine, for example in her work with the choir of Clare College Cambridge (with whom she has released several well-received recordings) and the BBC Singers (with whom she has broadcast on Radio 3, and premièred as dedicatee a work for harp and choir by Bob Chilcott, My perfect stranger). She has been heard on many other broadcasts and recordings, including A rose in the middle of winter which reached the top of the classical charts and grammy-nominated Imogen Holst; Choral works.

She regularly performs as guest principal harpist with the Ulster Orchestra, can sometimes be spotted in Dublin with the RTECO or NSO, and in the past has appeared with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, English Touring Opera and Northern Ballet amongst others. She has had the privilege of working with orchestral conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Mark Elder, Sir Roger Norrington, Vladimir Jurowski and Edward Gardner and choral directors Sir John Rutter, Sir Stephen Cleobury, David Hill and Graham Ross. She was delighted to accompany Sir James and Lady Jeanne Galway in The Lord is my shepherd for 2 flutes and harp on BBC Songs of Praise. In 2018 she broadcast live on Radio 3 from Tollymore Forest in Northern Ireland, as a soloist and accompanying soprano Sinead O’Kelly singing one of Tanya’s folk song arrangements.

Tanya loves arranging music for voices, a skill that has been expanded by her work with her wonderful community choir, the Helen’s Bay Singers, who have existed since the 2020 pandemic and flourished ever since. An a cappella, non-auditioned, all-age community choir, it provides Tanya and many others with great joy. The group has twice travelled to participate in the City of Derry Choral Festival and performs at occasions throughout the year around the village of Helen’s Bay.

Tanya also started the annual Helen’s Bay Summer Music Festival, a weekend celebration of local music and musicians, welcoming professional groups and championing local young musicians in the (in)famous Musical Picnic Tea.

Much to her delight she has recently been appointed Principal Conductor of the Studio Symphony Orchestra in Belfast, a group full of dedicated and enthusiastic amateur musicians, with whom she greatly enjoys discovering and engaging with large-scale symphonic works. She also directs and sings in Melisma, a Belfast-based 8 voice choir, who have appeared on Radio Ulster and Songs of Praise, and who recorded the backing vocals to The Priests' album "Alleluia" under her direction. She has also conducted the Belfast Bach Consort in their monthly Cantata series, including performances of Ein feste Burg for the anniversary of the Reformation.

She is the inaugural Musician in Residence at Rosemary Street First Presbyterian Church, Belfast and enjoys being part of the life of this welcoming, free-thinking congregation and playing for thoughtful and inspiring services.

A keen advocate of music education, Tanya is also a classroom music teacher at Methodist College Belfast, where she enjoys directing the Junior Choir and being part of the musical journey of some phenomenally talented young musicians.

Tanya believes music has the power to enrich our lives beyond all measure, and is more than delighted to have been able to spend her life and career thus far sharing music with many people in many places. It gives her great joy to see the next generation discovering this as well, and she looks forward to many more inspiring performances on every level and for every person.