Henry Williford is a graduate of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, where he was a student of Leone Buyse. During his time at university he performed throughout the Houston area and with a number of American orchestras and ensembles, often as a soloist. He spent two years as a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago as both a performer and an educator and is currently a member of the Orchestra of the Houston Grand Opera. He was the only American participant at the 2014 Geneva Competition. Henry’s teachers have included Mathieu Dufour (Berliner Philharmoniker), Leone Buyse (Boston Symphony Orchestra), Sydney Carlson (Portland Opera Orchestra), and Zart Dombourian-Eby, (Seattle Symphony Orchestra). He has also received instruction from Robert Langevin, Jennifer Gunn, Jean-Michel Tanguy, Marianne Gedigian, Walfrid Kujala, and Jean Ferrandis.