top of page

Meet our team.

Artistic Staff

 passport crop.jpg

Carole Nelson

Artistic Director, Emeritus

Ms. Nelson was on the faculty of the Music Department at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts for 25 years as a choir director and the voice teacher. She left HSPVA to serve as the Artistic Director for Houston Boychoir. She has prepared choirs for work with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, Houston Grand Opera, the orchestra and opera program of the Moores School of Music, Opera in the Heights and the Houston Bach Society. Prepared works include: Karl Orff’s Carmina Burana, Boito’s Mephistopholes, Bizet’s Carmen, Puccini’s La Boheme and both of Mahler’s Choral Symphonies No. 2 and No. 8.

​

She has led Houston Boychoir in concert tours of Washington DC, Chicago, New York, St. Louis and various cities throughout the United States. Foreign tours have included a fourteen-day tour of the Republic of China and most recently a concert tour of East Germany including Leipzig, Berlin and Dresden and led the choir in its debut in Carnegie Hall in 2008. Mostly recently the choir toured South Africa serving as youth ambassadors of Houston’s Cultural Arts.

​

Ms. Nelson is on the Board of the Southwest ACDA and she has presented choirs at national and state conferences. She is in demand as a clinician and director of Honor Choirs both locally and throughout the United States.

Piano Headshot.jpeg

Austin Hunt

​Artistic Director

Austin Hunt is the newly appointed Artistic Director of the Houston Boychoir. He also serves as Music Director of HopePointe Anglican Church in The Woodlands, TX. Prior to joining HBC, Mr. Hunt was the Artistic Director of Luminari Boys Choir and directed middle school choirs throughout the North Houston area. Mr. Hunt’s choirs have earned numerous awards and distinctions, including “Grand Champion” of the Conroe Choral Festival, “Best in Festival” at the American Classic Choral Competition, and consistent success at UIL Concert & Sight Reading.

 

In addition to directing choirs, Mr. Hunt is a published composer of choral music, with multiple titles available through Carl Fischer Music and Choristers Guild. His pieces are performed by school and church choirs across the U.S., including the Pittsburg State University Choir, Montgomery High School Chorale, and Choral Scholars of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church. Mr. Hunt also composed a commissioned work for the Anglican Diocese of the Western Gulf Coast.

 

Mr. Hunt’s vocal appearances include the role of Tamino in The Magic Flute with Sam Houston State University, tenor soloist in Messiah with The Woodlands Symphony Orchestra, and multiple seasons with the Houston Grand Opera Chorus, including their productions of Lohengrin and Aida. Specializing in oratorio and art music, Mr. Hunt has offered numerous voice recitals throughout the Houston area, including “Nessun Dorma” with the Kingwood Pops Orchestra and a benefit concert alongside world-renowned soprano Melanie Holliday, in which he performed excerpts from La Bohéme

 

Austin holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from Sam Houston State University. His professional affiliations include TMEA and TCDA. When not living the busy life of a musician, he enjoys playing tennis and traveling with his wife, Adaluz.

holly1-180x180.jpg

Holly Holt-Cabrera

Director, Preparatory Choir

Mrs. Holt Cabrera has been a music teacher and elementary choral director in Houston since 1996, serving at The Rice School for nineteen years, and most recently at Presbyterian School.  Over her career, she has been named Teacher of the Year twice, has been a guest clinician for area Elementary Honor Choirs, and has been a presenter at the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) convention and the ACDA Children’s Choir bi-annual retreat.  Her choirs have had the privilege of performing at TMEA as an invited group on three occasions, as well as in and around the city of Houston at such venues as the Hear the Future concert with the Houston Chamber Chorus, the 10th anniversary celebration for the Center for the Healing of Racism, and Mahler’s 3rd Symphony with the Texas Medical Center Orchestra. 

​

Mrs. Holt Cabrera holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Southwest Baptist

University, where she graduated Cum Laude, was voted Most Outstanding Music Graduate, and was inducted into Pi Kappa Lambda. She has also earned a Masters Degree in Vocal Performance from Baylor University and is Kodaly Certified.

Vasti-180x180.jpg

Vasti Cantú Adkins

Associate Director, Preparatory Choir West and South Campus

Vasti Cantú Adkins received her Bachelor‘s degree in Music Education from Houston Baptist University and is a graduate of Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Mrs. Adkins has taught at both the elementary school and the middle school levels having served as the elementary music specialist at Harvard Elementary School and as a choir director at the Meyerland School for the Performing and Visual Arts. She teaches piano, general music and voice at St. Andrew‘s School of Fine Arts (SOFA) and has held staff musician positions at various churches in the Houston area including Iglesia Fe y Poder, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church and Christian Tabernacle. Vasti is in high demand as a singer and a teacher and she just released her first EP, Emanuel found on Apple Music.

pjackson.jpeg

Phillip Jackson

       Director, Olde Boys

Phillip Jackson, Director of the Olde Boys is the Choir Director at Deer Park Junior High. Choirs under his direction have received only superior ratings and his program has grown to be one of the largest in thconce state of Texas. Phillip is a product of the TMEA All-State Mixed Choir and has sung solos with the Houston Symphony Orchestra. He is a highly sought-after clinician for the male voice in the Greater-Houston area. He has a beautiful girlfriend, Caitlin and three wonderful pets, Bruce, Chloe and Sadie.

Administrative Staff

Pam Henjum

Executive Director

​

Ileana Desalos

Operations Manager 

ileana.desalos@houstonboychoir.com

​

Louise Magruder

Director of Marketing and Design

​

Erta Gervais

Administrator West Campus

​

Jayne Fowler

Administrator Central and East Campuses

​

Tim Smale

Accompanist West Campus

​

Jayden Nguyen

Alumni Associate Central Campus

​

Noah Court

Alumni Associate Central Campus

​

Will Konko

Alumni Associate West Campus

​

Board of Directors

Mindy Harper, President

Jeremy Simmons, Vice President *
Brittain Cunningham, Treasurer *

Jayne Fowler, Secretary
Matthew Fowler *

Allison Gower
Nancy Haywood
Pamala Henjum

Louise Magruder 
Carole Nelson

Paul Roch *

Jeff Vyner

Advisory Board

Scott Allen *
Neeki Bey *
Rick Erickson

Dr. Wendell Mendell
Dr. Robert Nelson

David Quackenbush
Dr. Michael Remson
Sally Schott

​

​

​

​

*Houston Boychoir Alumnus

bottom of page