Earl Hough began playing with the Atlanta Philharmonic Orchestra during the 2015-16 season and was named Concertmaster beginning in July 2016. Before joining the Atlanta Philharmonic, Earl had been a member of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, Greenwich Symphony Orchestra, Erie Philharmonic, and the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestras.
As a soloist, Earl first appeared with the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra at the age of 10. Over the years, he has performed as soloist on numerous occasions with several orchestras including the Oklahoma City Symphony Orchestra, the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra, the Richardson Symphony Orchestra and three separate programs with the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra.
As an avid chamber musician, Earl performed at summer music festivals including the Aspen Music Festival, the Blossom Festival School, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and Music Mountain. He was also one of the founding members of the Allendale String Quartet.
While still in high school, Earl placed or took first prize in several local and national concerto competitions including the Richardson Young Artist’s Competition, the Kingsville Young Performers Competition, the Oklahoma City Young Artist Awards, the Seventeen Magazine Music Competition, and the Young Texas Artist’s Competition.
Earl began his violin studies at the age of 6 as part of a local Suzuki program and quickly graduated to studying privately lessons. At age 12 he began studying with the teacher who would be his primary mentor, Robert Davidovici, who was then Artist-in-Residence at North Texas State University. Earl studied at the Juilliard School with Dorothy Delay and earned his B.Mus. degree at the Manhattan School of Music where he studied with Ani Kavafian. He earned his M.Mus degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with Bernard Goldschmidt, Martin Chalifour, and Carolyn Warner. He has also participated in masterclasses with such notable violinists as Ivan Galamian, Josef Gingold, and Nadja Solerno-Sonnenberg. Currently Earl coaches with Kenn Wagner.
In addition to music, Earl has a passion for the technology industry. He holds numerous certifications from Cisco Systems and Microsoft including three distinct Cisco Certified Internetwork Engineer (CCIE) certifications, and is employed as a Sr. Network Engineer specializing in voice and video technologies.