Violist, Andrea Priester Houde, a native of South Carolina, is a product of that state's public school strings program. She received a Bachelor of Music degree, Summa Cum Laude, from the University of Memphis with Leonard Schranze. Further studies followed at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University where she earned a Master of Music degree in Viola Performance with an Emphasis in Pedagogy and a Graduate Performance Diploma under the tutelage of Victoria Chiang. Other teachers include Heidi Castleman, Jeffrey Irvine, Mark Jackobs, and David Holland. Pedagogy studies were with Rebecca Henry and Drs. Laura and Harlan Parker.

Ms. Priester Houde has attended and performed in festivals across the United States including the Aspen Music Festival and School, ENCORE School for Strings, Interlochen Arts Camp, Brevard Music Center, and the Quartet Program at Bucknell University. In 2003, Ms. Priester Houde was awarded a Peabody Singapore Fellowship that sent her to Singapore to mentor students at the new Yong Siew Toh Conservatory and to perform with the Singapore Symphony. She accepted a second invitation to return for another Peabody Singapore Fellowship in 2004.

A dedicated educator of students of all levels, Ms. Priester Houde served on the faculties of Frederick Community College in Frederick, Maryland, Roland Park Country School (Baltimore), and The Bryn Mawr School (Baltimore). She currently maintains a large private studio.

As a performer, Ms. Priester Houde is a member of the Maryland Symphony and an active freelance musician in the Washington D.C.-Baltimore region. Her versatility has led her to such extremes as performing as principal violist with the Washington Summer Opera Theatre to playing in a rock band on the Millenium stage at the Kennedy Center.

In the fall of 2005, Ms. Priester Houde joined the faculty at the University of Delaware as Instructor of Viola. She is also on the faculty of Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan where she performs and teaches in the summer.