SILAS NATHANIEL HUFF is a conductor, composer, and U.S. Air Force Band Officer, currently acting as Director of Orchestras at Northern Illinois University and Commander & Conductor of the 562nd Air Force Band (CA). In the summer, Huff is Co-Director of the International Conducting Institute (dedicated to training the world's next generation of conductors) and Director of the International Concerto Festival (a summer festival for emerging soloists). Maestro Huff has conducted outstanding performances for 20+ years across the United States (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia) and across Europe.
Maestro Huff's past positions include Director of Orchestras at Washburn University (KS), and Music Director of the Astoria Symphony Orchestra (NYC), U.S. Army Orchestra (DC), 44th Army Band (Albuquerque, NM), Round Rock Symphony Orchestra (TX), Topeka Youth Symphony (KS), and the critically acclaimed Lost Dog New Music Ensemble (NYC). An avid dance conductor, Huff has conducted performances with many companies, including the Martha Graham Ensemble.
In 2011, Huff won a coveted job as a U.S. Army Music Officer, and later as U.S. Air Force Band Officer. As such, he has conducted concerts at the White House, U.S. Capitol, Arlington National Cemetery, Pentagon, and other important monuments and landmarks in Washington, D.C. Among other notable assignments, Major Huff served as Director of The U.S. Army Orchestra (Washington, D.C.), Company Commander of the U.S. Army School of Music in Virginia Beach, Commander of the 44th Army Band (“New Mexico’s Own” National Guard Band), and Commander of the 562nd Air Force Band (Air National Guard Band of the West Coast).
Huff holds degrees from Texas State University, University of California Los Angeles, and University of Colorado Boulder in orchestral conducting. He also studied at the Trossingen Hochschule für Musik (Germany), L’Institut Musical Provence-Aubagne (France), and California State University-Long Beach. In 1999, Huff won First Prize in the Los Angeles Valley Composition Competition. In 2001, he was named Conductor of the Year by the California State University system, and in 2011, the Texas House of Representatives signed a resolution recognizing Huff’s distinguished musical service. The U.S. Army has conferred upon him two Meritorious Service Medals, four Army Commendation Medal, a Humanitarian Service Medal, and an Army Achievement Medal (among others), and in 2020 the Boulder Concert Band won The American Prize for Community Band/Wind Ensemble Performance under Huff’s baton.
Doctor/Major/Maestro Huff loves espresso, bicycling, and his novelist wife Taylor Morris.
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