Silas Huff

Silas Nathaniel Huff is Music Director of the Clinton Symphony Orchestra (IA), Director of Maestro Masterclasses, Co-Director of the International Conducting Institute (organizations dedicated to training the world’s next generation of conductors), and Conductor of the International Concerto Festival (Czech Republic). Past positions include Director of Orchestras at Northern Illinois University (IL) and Washburn University (KS); Music Director of the Astoria Symphony Orchestra (NYC), U.S. Army Orchestra (DC), 562nd Air Force Band (CA), 44th Army Band (NM), Topeka Youth Symphony (KS), Round Rock Symphony Orchestra (TX), and the critically acclaimed Lost Dog New Music Ensemble (NYC). Maestro Huff has conducted hundreds of concerts across America and Europe, and has conducted performances with many ballet companies—including the Martha Graham Ensemble.

In 2011, Maestro Huff won a coveted job as a U.S. Army Music Officer. As such, he conducted concerts at the White House, U.S. Capitol, Arlington National Cemetery, Pentagon, and other important monuments and landmarks in Washington, D.C., on tour for audiences numbering in the thousands. Major Huff’s assignments included Director, U.S. Army Orchestra (Washington, D.C.); U.S. Army Central Music Liaison Officer (Middle East); Company Commander, U.S. Army School of Music (Virginia Beach); Commander, “New Mexico’s Own” 44th Army Band; and Commander, Air Guard Band of the West Coast.

Maestro Huff holds degrees from Texas State University, University of California Los Angeles, and University of Colorado Boulder, and studied at the Trossingen Hochschule für Musik (Germany), L’Institut Musical Provence-Aubagne (France), and California State University-Long Beach. In 1999, Maestro Huff won First Prize in the Los Angeles Valley Composition Competition. In 2001, he was named Conductor of the Year by the California State University system, and in 2011, the Texas House of Representatives signed a resolution recognizing Maestro Huff’s distinguished musical service. The U.S. Army and Air Force have conferred upon him three Meritorious Service Medals, four Commendation Medals, a Humanitarian Service Medal, and an Achievement Medal (among others), and in 2020 the Boulder Concert Band won The American Prize for Band/Wind Ensemble Performance under Maestro Huff’s baton.