Monica (Niki) Houghton was born in Vermont, and grew up in Reno, Nevada. She holds A.B. and A.M. degrees from Harvard University in Chinese Language and Literature and East Asian Studies, and an M.M. in Composition from the Cleveland Institute of Music. She served on the CIM faculty and was an active member of the Cleveland Composers Guild for nine years before moving back to Nevada in 2011. Ms. Houghton received the Thanatopolis Music Prize from the iPark Foundation in 2010 for her work "Quase um Soneto," an Individual Excellence Award in 2007 from the Ohio Arts Council, and the Composer of the Year Commission for 2007 from the Ohio Music Teachers Association. Her works for large ensemble have been performed by the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra, Contemporary Youth Orchestra, University Circle Wind Ensemble and CIM Orchestra. Among the distinguished artists and ensembles performing her solo, vocal and chamber works are Panoramicos, the Cleveland Chamber Collective, pianists James Winn, Christopher Atzinger, Halida Dinova, Tuyen Tonnu and Diana Fanning, vocalists Andrew White, Kim Lauritsen, Patrick Mason, Andrea Wells and Katherine DeBoer, guitarist Don Better and organist Karel Paukert. Mr. Paukert recorded her solo organ work Erebus for the Cleveland Museum of Art on AZICA Records. Houghton's music has been performed live at festivals including the International Alliance for Women in Music, Ernest Bloch Festival, AKI Festival of New Music, Oregon Bach Festival, Virginia Arts Festival and Shanghai Spring International Music Festival. Her music has been presented in collaboration with the Nevada Museum of Art, the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society, the Cleveland Flute Society, and the Poets and Writers League of Greater Cleveland. In addition to her concert music, Ms. Houghton has composed an opera entitled The Big Bonanza, which won the Boston Metro Opera 2010 New Music New England Concert Award. VIDEO: Contemporary Youth Orchestra performs Arp 87. world premiere Monica Houghton, composer Recorded LIVE Cleveland Ohio December 2009.
