Violinist Grant Houston connects with listeners through performances of unbridled energy and emotional magnetism. Known for drawing in audiences with a uniquely compelling musical voice, he has been described as playing "as ethereally as mist... the audience kept so quiet that it seemed we were holding our breath throughout." (Yale Alumni Magazine). Particularly devoted to chamber music, Houston is a founding member of Trio Gaia, a co-artistic director of the GRAMMY-nominated Palaver Strings, and a frequently featured performer at chamber music series and festivals across the country. 

In recent seasons, Houston has brought a distinct presence to a wide range of performances across the chamber music landscape. Notable engagements include Spoleto Festival USA (Bank of America Chamber Music), the Grand Canyon Music Festival, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, the Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia, Monadnock Music, Wellesley Chamber Players, First Mondays at Jordan Hall, and Juventas New Music. Pre-professional summers were spent at Ravinia's Steans Music Institute, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, the Perlman Music Program, the Moritzburg Festival Academy, and many others. Frequently sought after for special projects and collaborations, he has been a regular guest of Castle of Our Skins, was featured in a studio recording of Florence Price’s G Major String Quartet which aired on WGBH public radio, and has performed at specially curated events for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum's Weekend Concert Series. He appears often with the conductorless ensembles A Far Cry, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and in the summer of 2024 was named a Co-Artistic Director of the Portland, Maine-based Palaver Strings.  Houston has also performed widely as a soloist and recitalist, including a concerto appearance with the Plymouth Philharmonic and performances of the piano and violin duo repertoire with pianists Max Levinson, Efi Hackmey, and Melvin Chen. 

As the violinist of Trio Gaia, Houston has helped to build the ensemble into one of today’s most exciting piano trios. Offering audiences dynamic, personally relevant experiences inside and outside the concert hall, Trio Gaia has made a name for itself performing recitals on series such as the Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota, Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts, the Harvard Musical Association, Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Society, Davidson College Concert Series, Music on Norway Pond, Shelter Island Friends of Music, and many others. Equally known is the trio’s passion for bringing people of all ages into the experience of chamber music, leading to its repeat residencies at the Panama Jazz Festival, regular interactive workshops with elementary, middle, and high-school students, lecture-recitals at MIT’s Whitehead Institute, masterclasses for the New England Conservatory Preparatory School, and engagements at educational programs such as PRIZM International Festival in Tennessee and the Massachusetts Suzuki Festival. In recent years, Trio Gaia has garnered numerous accolades, including prizes at the 2022 WDAV Young Chamber Musicians Competition, the 2022 Premio Trio di Trieste in Italy, the 2021 Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition, the 2020 International Chamber Music Ensemble Competition, and the 2019 Plowman Competition. In 2024, the trio completed a three-year appointment as Trio-in-Residence in the New England Conservatory's Professional Piano Trio Program.

Houston has performed with artists such as Jeremy Denk, Inon Barnatan, Paul Biss, Marcus Thompson, Paul Wiancko, and Todd Phillips, and counts Donald Weilerstein, Ayano Ninomiya, Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, and Merry Peckham among his mentors. Committed to music education himself, he has given masterclasses at Duke University, the Virginia Governor’s School for the Arts, and the Winsor School, and now serves on the faculty of New England Conservatory Preparatory School. Houston completed both undergraduate and graduate study at the New England Conservatory of Music, and performs on a 1757 Michel’angelo Bergonzi violin on generous loan from a private foundation.