Houston Pride Orchestra Brings LGBTQ Musicians Together Through Classical Music

For decades, Houston’s LGBTQIA+ community has found harmony through organizations like Pride Chorus Houston and the Houston Pride Band. Now, a new ensemble is ensuring string, woodwind, brass, and percussion musicians have a place to call home.

The Houston Pride Orchestra (HPO) was founded to provide what Executive Director and President Ruby Ortiz (they/them) calls “a safe space for our musicians to make beautiful music together without fear of persecution.”

“We also would like to provide an outlet for our queer and ally audience members to experience queer joy in a less conventional setting,” Ortiz says.

For Ortiz, the idea had been years in the making. Inspired by Pride Band, Pride Chorus Houston, and especially the International Pride Orchestra, they realized Houston, home to one of the nation’s largest LGBTQIA+ communities, deserves a dedicated queer orchestra of its own. “I had this idea in the back of my head, for years, of a Pride orchestra, and I was just waiting for somebody to create it,” Ortiz recalls. “And then after years of nobody doing it, I thought, ‘Okay, I will do it myself.’”

That vision became reality after Ortiz performed with the International Pride Orchestra during WorldPride 2025 in Washington, D.C. “It was the best musical experience of my entire life aside from our first concert,” they say. “Before I even left for D.C. to attend [WorldPride], I knew that I had to create the Houston Pride Orchestra.”

Beyond creating another performing ensemble, HPO exists to challenge a culture that has too often left LGBTQIA+ classical musicians feeling isolated. “We created this ensemble with the hope to provide an environment where our musicians can rehearse and perform in a classical music setting, where we don’t have to worry about getting microaggressed, looked at funny, or be the victim of homophobic or transphobic rhetoric,” Ortiz reveals. “Our queer musicians and audience members, we all deserve not just to be tolerated, but to be celebrated.”

That mission resonated immediately. Hosted by Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church, HPO’s inaugural concert drew an almost full house, while auditions for the upcoming season have attracted more than 80 musicians. “It is really heartwarming to see how many people want to be a part of this ensemble,” Ortiz gushes. “We’re just really excited to provide these musicians with the safety and comfort of a mostly queer ensemble.”

The orchestra is already looking ahead to an ambitious second season, including four concerts and a collaboration with Pride Chorus Houston. “In future years, I think my biggest desire for this ensemble and my biggest goal is to just be able to pay everyone,” Ortiz confesses. “I want to pay all of our musicians, our staff, our personnel, and our conductors,” they add. “We’re all volunteers, and I’m hoping that we can find enough funding to be able to pay everyone for their time and expertise.”

For audiences, Ortiz hopes HPO becomes an accessible entry point into classical music, an art form they believe has too often felt out of reach. “I’m hoping that our audience members will have the opportunity to experience something brand new at one of our free concerts, maybe feel some hope in belonging,” they say. “The ultimate hope would be to inspire people to go out into our community and do some good as well.”

For more info, visit houstonprideorchestra.org.

Meet Ruby Ortiz, Founder of the Houston Pride Orchestra
The violist shares how courage, collaboration, and community shaped the LGBTQ ensemble.

Ruby Ortiz never planned on becoming a violist. “I stumbled across orchestra completely by accident in sixth grade,” they laugh. “I chose viola at random, in an act of desperation during my first day of middle school.”

What began as chance soon became purpose. “I quickly fell in love with the act of creating something from nothing and also the community and found family that came along with being in orchestra,” Ortiz remembers. “The biggest thing that keeps me going every day in regards to both this organization and my work in education is just the opportunity to provide experiences like performance opportunities for musicians who otherwise wouldn’t have those opportunities.”

After years of teaching orchestra across the Houston area, Ortiz says their students shaped their leadership philosophy as much as they shaped young musicians. “The most important thing that I try to keep with me after being in the classroom for so long is to listen more than you speak and ask for help,” they explain. “Leading collaboratively, leading as a community, is far more important and fruitful than just being a figurehead.”

That collaborative approach has become essential as HPO grows, but it was also born from personal experience. Ortiz recalls being told “that my pronouns don’t make sense” and later leaving a teaching position after being “bullied out of the classroom” over displaying a Pride flag. “Nobody ever stood up for me. Nobody cared, it felt like,” they emphasize. “After those experiences, I have never felt so alone.”

Those moments reinforced why creating HPO mattered. “As professional musicians, we also do our best work when we feel safe,” Ortiz imparts. “That’s what I feel when I’m sitting in the viola section of the Houston Pride Orchestra. So that’s why that representation is so important.”

Asked what advice they would offer young queer musicians, Ortiz doesn’t hesitate. “There’s a great quote going around right now that I fully believe in: ‘Do it scared,’” they state. “I was terrified starting this organization. I thought I would fail it all. I still sometimes have those thoughts.”

“Do it scared because the outcome could be something you never would’ve dreamed you could achieve,” they conclude.

For more info, visit houstonprideorchestra.org.