Principal Percussion
Riely Francis is a native of Houston, and earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Music Performance at Rice University. He was a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, and performed at the Spoleto Festival in Italy. With The New World Symphony, he toured 4 continents and made numerous orchestral recordings under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas.
For 13 years, Riely held the position of Associate Principal Percussion at the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra. Riely has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Symphony, San Diego Symphony, and Atlanta Symphony, as well as the Houston Symphony, Houston Ballet, and Houston Grand Opera. Since 2004, he has performed chamber and orchestral music each summer at the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
He is currently adjunct teacher of percussion at San Antonio College.