Meet Sean Holshouser

Sean Holshouser, age 23, has already had numerous and varied performance opportunities; both as a vocal soloist and an actor. With the Houston Symphony, he performed over ten times as a boy soprano soloist. He participated in the 2010 Open House concert, sang the solo, “Walking in the Air” with a screening of the short film The Snowman, and performed as a soloist for the Very Merry Pops concerts for 2010. One of his most memorable experiences was singing the boy soprano solo “In Dreams” at the end of a screening of the movie “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” alongside the Symphony, the Houston Symphony Chorus and the Houston Children’s Chorus. 

Post-voice change, Sean has performed with the likes of the Grand Teton Music Festival, the Alley Theatre and the Houston Grand Opera. He was the 1st Prize scholarship winner of HGO’s Bauer Family High School Voice Studio in 2019, prior to beginning college at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music. There, he has performed in Philip Glass’ opera “La Belle et La Bête” (La Bête/Avenant), and in “Die Fledermaus” (Dr. Falke). 

As a theatre performer, Sean was associated with HITS Theatre in Houston for several years, where he has played roles in shows ranging from Shakespearean to musical theatre. His most notable roles include Godspell (Jesus), Anything Goes (Billy Crocker), Into the Woods (The Baker), Sideshow (Terry Connor), Crazy For You (Bobby Child), Footloose: The Musical (Rev. Shaw Moore) and Shrek: The Musical (Lord Farquaad), the latter three of which were performed at Miller Outdoor Theater. At the theater, he was likely best known for his performance as Sweeney Todd in the musical of the same name, a role that garnered him a BroadwayWorld Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. Other theater roles include Scrooge (Ebenezer Scrooge) at TUTS, Little Shop of Horrors (Orin Scrivello, D.D.S.) with University of Houston, and Sondheim on Sondheim (multiple tracks, 4 solos/duets) with UH. 

In affiliation with the Alley and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, he was part of the inaugural performance of the Bayou Bend “Christmas Village,” which received extensive support and media advertisement in Houston; he returned for a second year in 2016. Sean is also an auditioned member of the Broadway Artist’s Alliance. In November of 2016, he opened the NCAA Men’s Soccer College Cup at BBVA Compass Stadium with “The Star Spangled Banner”. He performed the same piece again for a combined audience of over 37,000 at Miller Outdoor Theatre and Mitchell Pavilion to open the Houston Symphony’s “Star Spangled Salute” concert series in 2017. He also recently performed in the Symphony’s Best of Broadway concert series as a soloist. He was a member of the St. Paul’s Choral Scholars for three years, and was the youngest auditioned member of the Houston Symphony Chorus. He is currently in the Moores School of Music’s Concert Chorale, under the direction of Betsy Cook Weber.

In the near future, he can be seen as The Pirate King in the Gilbert and Sullivan Society’s production of The Pirates of Penzance, bowing July of 2023. 

Sean currently studies with University of Houston professor Hector Vasquez, who he has taken with since high school. He previously studied with renowned Houston music director Jack Beetle, and Alley Theatre repertory actor Todd Waite.