Founded in 1913, the Houston Symphony is one of America's oldest performing arts organizations with a distinguished musical history. The Houston Symphony performs over 170 concerts for more than 350,000 people every year, featuring an innovative and broad spectrum of classical, popular, education and community-based symphonic programming.

Please view the below for information on positions currently available at the Houston Symphony. As of July 2022, the Houston Symphony employs 60 full- and part-time employees. The Houston Symphony is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against otherwise qualified applicants on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected class. The Houston Symphony follows all recruiting and hiring laws and guidelines set by federal, state and local government agencies, including but not limited to, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Staff Positions

 Orchestra Auditions

Houston Symphony Auditions For Substitute And Extra Musicians

The Houston Symphony Announces Audition for Per Service Substitute and Extra Musicians for the following instruments. To apply, please use application procedure detailed at the bottom the page

To be considered for an invitation to audition, highly qualified candidates should submit an audition application, to be received no later than the indicated date.

Please complete the audition application form linked below and email your audition application to: hssauditions@houstonsymphony.org
Audition Application – Resumé Form
Please indicate the name of the position for which you are applying in the subject line of the email.
No phone calls please.
The audition committee reserves the right to dismiss any candidate not meeting the highest artistic standards.
The Houston Symphony is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

The Houston Symphony has a 52-week season which includes 9 weeks of paid vacation with a minimum annual salary of $113, 360 for the 2025-26 contract year for all permanent musicians. Benefits include health/dental/vision insurance, instrument insurance, disability insurance, and pension contributions to the AFM-EPF.com

Successful candidates from the Houston Symphony substitute and extra musician auditions will be placed on the substitute pool list for possible engagement with the orchestra as needed. Substitute and extra musicians are engaged on per-service basis at the rate of $218.00, as of October 5, 2025.