Principal Flute, Emeritus - Houston Symphony
Haynes 19.5K Gold Custom,P Cut Headjoint, Silver Mechanism & Toneholes, Inline G, Split-E Mechanism
Purchased from FLUTISTRY
web: www.araleedorough.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@araleefluteAralee Dorough served as Principal Flutist of the Houston Symphony from 1991 to 2026, helping define the orchestra's sound under music directors spanning from Christoph Eschenbach and Hans Graf to Andrés Orozco-Estrada and Juraj Valčuha.
A renowned interpreter of the orchestral repertoire, she can be heard on over 30 Houston Symphony recordings and has worked with a distinguished roster of guest artists including Erich Leinsdorf, Michael Tilson Thomas, Leonard Slatkin, and Yo-Yo Ma.
During her tenure she completed a personal "Mozart Cycle" of all three flute concerti: it began with the Concerto for Flute and Harp with harpist Marisa Robles, Christoph Eschenbach conducting, followed by a recording of the Concerto in G Major with Eschenbach, released as part of a triple CD set on IMP Classics, and subsequent performances with music director Hans Graf, and concluded with the Concerto in D Major with guest conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos. Other solo highlights include the world premiere of Bright Sheng's Flute Moon (commissioned for the Houston Symphony and broadcast on PBS), the U.S. premiere of the Salvador Brotons concerto (conducted by the composer at the NFA Convention), and the premiere of a chamber work by Gabriela Frank with the Da Camera Society. She has also appeared as a soloist with conductors Nicholas McGegan (Quantz) and Joshua Rifkin (Bach). In 2022, she performed the Sarasate Carmen Fantasy with conductor Jader Bignamini, in an arrangement of her own creation featuring the full flute section — a version she subsequently expanded for the 2023 NFA Convention by featuring a surprise entrance by two high school flute choirs!
From 1991 through 1998, Dorough performed extensively with the Houston Symphony Chamber Players, including tours to Japan and Europe and appearances at the Ravinia and Pacific music festivals. The ensemble recorded two albums of Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern for Koch International — among the few ensembles to commit repertoire like Schoenberg's Quintet for Winds to disc. A particular distinction of those years was the opportunity to perform chamber music with Christoph Eschenbach as pianist, a collaboration that remains among the most memorable.
She has been a guest with Houston's Da Camera Society, Foundation for Modern Music, and Musiqa, the Aspen Music Festival, the Texas Music Festival, and the Walled City Music Festival in Derry, Ireland.
Uniting her classical mastery with a unique family legacy, Dorough is the daughter of jazz artist and Schoolhouse Rock! creator Bob Dorough. Her studio involvement began early, including a speaking part on "My Hero Zero" at age nine. She is a featured artist on her father's album Eulalia and appears on Live at the Deer Head Inn by the Bob Dorough Trio. In 2005, she collaborated with her father and her husband, oboist Colin Gatwood, on The Houston Branch album, featuring Houston's top jazz musicians performing standard tunes and originals.
Today, she continues this creative lineage as a composer and multi-instrumentalist. She is a featured performer on A Romantic's Guide to King Crimson (2021), playing flute and world flutes on reimagined tracks like "Sleepless" and "One Time." Her recent solo albums, produced by Markus Reuter, explore the intersection of acoustic and electronic sound — The Voyage of Blacwyd (2022) —and —The Tarot Canticles (2024) features her on flute and U8 Touch Guitar, and as narrator/vocalist.
Dorough has taught at the University of Houston's Moores School of Music, the Texas Music Festival, the Festival-Institute at Round Top, and the Aspen Music Festival. Her teaching draws on a lineage of master teachers — Robert Willoughby, Thomas Nyfenger, Keith Underwood, and early mentor Nadine Asin — and centers on breathing, physical efficiency, and a disciplined interpretive process developed over decades of orchestral and solo performance. Long sought after for her expertise in orchestral repertoire and audition preparation, she has recently expanded her work to include improvisation, group composition, and spontaneous multi-flute performance — work she has brought to university stages and flute events to enthusiastic response. She is now directing her energy toward new formats: online content and platforms, masterclasses, and select in-person events for flutists at all levels.
Aralee Dorough joined the Artist roster of Wm. S. Haynes Co. in January 2026.
Album Links:
The Tarot Canticles Album - via Bandcamp
The Tarot Canticles Album on Spotify
The Ergonomic Flute Album on Spotify (Mozart, Beethoven, Bach)