Matthew Strauss

Matthew Strauss is the associate principal percussionist of the Houston Symphony Orchestra. He is also a noted educator, having taught at Rice University and the University of Delaware. Strauss attended the Juilliard School in Manhattan, New York, as an undergraduate, graduating in 1996. That year, he landed a post as principal percussionist of the Delaware Symphony Orchestra in Wilmington, Delaware, continuing to perform there until 2004. While in Wilmington, he earned a master's degree in percussion performance from Temple University in nearby Philadelphia. From 2002 to 2004, he was a member of the percussion section of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In 2004, he joined the Houston Symphony, where he remained a member of the percussion section as of the mid-2020s. In 2009, Strauss added a post as a lecturer in music at the University of Miami, remaining there until 2018. In 2015, Strauss made his recording debut, appearing on flutist Camilla Hoitenga's album Kaija Saariaho: Let the Wind Speak on the Ondine label. Strauss has an unusually wide record of performing with major American orchestras. He has appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony, and many other groups. He has performed as a soloist with the Houston Symphony, the Texas Music Festival Orchestra, and the Akron Symphony, among other groups. An enthusiastic chamber music performer, he has appeared with the Chicago Chamber Musicians and Da Camera of Houston, and he has made many festival appearances at the Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival and the Skaneateles Music Festival in New York. Strauss has appeared at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Music Now series, directed by conductors Pierre Boulez and Esa-Pekka Salonen. In 2023, Strauss returned to the recording studio, appearing with percussionist Svet Stoyanov and the Houston Symphony in Jennifer Higdon's Duo Duel on the Naxos label. Since 2018, Strauss has been on the percussion faculty at Rice University.
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