Rieth Recital Series: The Edvard Grieg Society of the Great Lakes – Austin Huntington, cello & Jeni Houser, soprano

Austin Huntington was appointed principal cellist of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in 2015 at age 20, making him one of the youngest principal players in a major American orchestra. He has also served as guest principal with the San Francisco, Toronto, Utah, and Florida symphonies, and the Quad City Symphony Orchestra. He is currently principal cellist at the Mainly Mozart Festival and Colorado Music Festival.

A winner of the Stulberg and Irving M. Klein international competitions and a top prizewinner in the Schadt Competition, Austin has appeared as soloist with the Indianapolis Symphony, The Florida Orchestra, Marin Symphony, Colburn Orchestra, and others.

Equally active as a chamber musician, he has collaborated across genres with artists including Itzhak Perlman, Augustin Hadelich, Edgar Meyer, The Eagles, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Augustana. He has served on faculty at Indiana University and the University of Indianapolis, and as Chair of the Board for the Indianapolis Suzuki Academy.

Austin holds degrees from the Colburn School and Indiana University, and studied with Ronald Leonard, Eric Kim, and other renowned teachers.

Soprano Jeni Houser has been praised by Opera News for her “commanding and duplicitous, yet also vulnerable” performances and a voice with “a bright future above the staff.” In the 2024–25 season, she returned to the Metropolitan Opera for Die Zauberflöte and its English-language The Magic Flute, reprising her signature role as the Queen of the Night. She also appears as Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance with Charlottesville Opera, makes her debut with the Utah Symphony, and returns to the Madison Symphony Orchestra.

Houser has performed the Queen of the Night with the Met, LA Opera, Dallas Opera, and across the U.S. She recently sang Cunegonde in Candide with Madison Opera and Carmina Burana with the Phoenix Symphony and Grand Teton Music Festival.

Internationally, she debuted at the Wiener Staatsoper in Staud’s Die Weiden and returned for Die Zauberflöte and Orest. Other roles include Lucia, Zerbinetta, Olympia, and Susanna. A graduate of Lawrence University and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, she is an alumna of Glimmerglass, Virginia Opera, and Opera Saratoga.