Home » Jazz Musicians » Glennis Houston

Glennis Houston

Glennis credits the origins of her talent to the rhythms of the swing and big band era that filled her childhood home with the sounds of Duke Ellington, the Dorsey brothers and Glen Miller. Her parents taught ballroom dance, so her parents' appreciation for music was a tremendous influence on Glennis and the nurturing of her musical pursuits. Although she chose to listen to the pop music of the day (oh the 70s – Carpenters! Olivia Newton John! - all that soft stuff!), she was surrounded by music of another era – that was her first exposure to music and she remembers poring over her parents’ albums of music from a bygone era.

Despite telling her mother, at the ripe age of five years old, that she was going to be a singer, she played classical piano as a child and teenager, and played clarinet for three years in her junior high band. Unfortunately, at that time, playing in a school band didn’t seem as important as other things…like being popular, trying to be cool (which the band kids weren’t!) skipping school, and smoking! So, she chose to not pursue band in high school. In fact, she dropped out of high school after grade eleven, and picked up a few courses through night school to at least get her high school diploma. She also left home at 17, and was essentially away from music for several years. Many of her friends at that time didn’t even know she was musical!

The yearn to sing never subsided. She finally had her first voice lesson at the age of 22 (rather old for beginning singing), which was quickly followed by joining Edmonton Musical Theatre, under the instruction of Dasha Goody. Training in acting, dance, chorus and solo performance launched roles in theatre, with an early review calling Glennis "a delight" as Carrie in the production of Carousel. She then decided to pursue a Bachelor’s of Music in Classical Voice Performance and entered the music program at the University of Calgary in 1988 as an adult student of 25. Despite her dubious history with education, she was on the Dean's List for all four years at U of C. She went on to receive a Masters of Music from the University of Colorado, Boulder (1994), after which time she realized that her heart, and voice, needed to be dedicated to a different genre of music. That realization began her move back into the music she was introduced to as a child. Attending the Vocal Jazz Camp at the internationally renowned Banff Centre of Fine Arts to study with with Jay Clayton and Sheila Jordan would cement her new dedication to Jazz. Also contributing to her training were Juno-nominated Kate Hammett-Vaughn and Jennifer Scott, both of Vancouver, and further private studies Shannon Gunn, of Toronto.

Read more

Tags

5
Album Review

Glennis Houston: I'll Reminisce You

Read "I'll Reminisce You" reviewed by Edward Blanco


Calgary vocalist Glennis Houston follows up her debut album Lies of Handsome Men (2004, Self-Produced) with a warm session of light contemporary vocal jazz on I'll Reminisce You. Unlike the first disc--comprised entirely of standards--Houston designs a repertoire of primarily originals with the incorporation of a handful of cover songs touching on bebop, blues and ballads. This second effort actually began in early 2006 but, life got in the way with family, work, education, pursuing a PhD and other such ...

Read more articles
Primary Instrument

Vocals

Location

Calgary

Willing to teach

Intermediate to advanced

Credentials/Background

My teaching philosophy is to provide you with a supportive and positive environment to allow you to make changes in your vocal technique and style as quickly as possible. I use simple directives without excessive verbal direction because sometimes you just need to “wait for the bus.” Although I'm classically trained with a Masters in voice and believe in using some aspects of the classical technique for a strong and solid base from which to develop, I also believe that you should be able to study the material that most interests you! I use non-classical repertoire (sometimes referred to as CCM, or contemporary commercial repertoire) and because of my love and interest in singing and performing jazz and blues, much material is derived from those genres

Read more

Music

Videos

Similar

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.