Born in 1977 in Peer, Belgium, Kevin Houben discovered his passion for music at an early age through piano and trumpet studies. He pursued his musical education at the Lemmens Institute in Leuven, earning First Prizes in trumpet (under Léon Pétré), wind band and orchestral conducting (with Edmond Saveniers), and composition (with Jan Van der Roost and Luc Van Hove).
Houben’s music is cherished by orchestras across Europe, the Americas, Australia, and Japan. His compositions have earned multiple awards (including Arcana – Comines-Warneton 2003 and EBBA 2006; Thyelenne – EBBA 2009; Lux Futura – WASBE 2019) and are frequently selected as compulsory works in international competitions (e.g. Lake of the Moon – WMC Kerkrade 2013; Where Angels Fly – EBBA Ostend 2017).
Winner of the Buma International Brass Award (2016), awarded in the Netherlands by Buma Cultuur for outstanding international contributions to wind and brass music.
In March 2017, his Symphony No. 1 premiered with the Belgian National Orchestra, conducted by Dirk Brossé, following a commission by the City of Peer.
In 2018, Houben took part in an international conducting masterclass in the Czech Republic, coached by Martin Sieghart. Working intensively with a big symphony orchestra, solo singers, and choir, he conducted repertoire including Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Mendelssohn’s Italian Overture, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, further refining his artistic vision and technical mastery.
In 2019, he was awarded a scholarship to the Advanced Conductors Program at the Caltech Conducting Institute in Los Angeles, studying with Dr. Glenn D. Price. The program also featured intensive sessions with leading artists such as Andrew Bain (principal horn, LA Philharmonic), Wayne Bergeron (studio and jazz trumpet soloist), composer Frank Ticheli, arranger/conductor Bob Reynolds, and other distinguished faculty.
Since 2020, Houben has been teaching orchestration and instrumentation at LUCA School of Arts – Campus Lemmens as a guest professor alongside Ivan Meylemans. In 2021, he joined the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp as a guest professor for the Educational Master in Conducting.
An acclaimed conductor, Houben has led professional orchestras and ensembles around the globe for concerts and recordings. Notable projects include his role as musical director of Le Temps Perdu (Isabelle Beernaert, Carré Amsterdam, 2018).
With his wind orchestra, Koninklijke Harmonie van Peer, he has achieved numerous accolades, including victory at the Flemish Open Championship (2019) and a second-place finish at the European Championship for Symphonic Wind Bands in Amiens, France (2022).
Orchestrated Le Mariage de Minuit – Fantaisie for Piano and Orchestra by H.R.H. Princess Sirivannavari, performed by the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra conducted by Michel Tilkin, with Titos Gouvelis as piano soloist, during their 2023 European tour (Paris • Vienna • Munich).
Over the years, he has conducted numerous film and series recordings at Galaxy Studios (Mol, Belgium) with a top-level symphonic orchestra, working closely with sound director and long-time collaborator Patrick Lemmens. These international studio sessions involved collaborations with renowned directors and composers on major productions, including Suriname (Netflix, directed by Yoon Jong-bin), Decision to Leave (directed by Park Chan-wook), Seobok(directed by Lee Yong-ju), and the French feature film Le Tigre et le Président with original music by Mathieu Lamboley.
In 2025, Houben was commissioned by Luc Sels, Honorary Rector and Full Professor at KU Leuven, to compose his Second Symphony in celebration of KU Leuven’s 600th anniversary. The 45-minute work for symphony orchestra, large choir and wind orchestra features an original libretto by the acclaimed writer and poet Maud Vanhauwaert, former city poet of both Leuven and Antwerp. The symphony received three sold-out premieres: twice at LUCA School of Arts – Campus Lemmens and once at Concertgebouw Brugge.
Since 2015, Houben has been part of the creative team behind the orchestral sets at Tomorrowland, one of the world’s most iconic music festivals. Since 2023, he has conducted The Symphony of Unity, leading performances at Tomorrowland Belgium, Our Story in Ziggo Dome (Amsterdam), and the Tomorrowland Pre-Festival in Brazil. In this role, he has collaborated with world-renowned DJs such as Kölsch, Alok, Dimitri Vegas, Timmy Trumpet, John Newman, Kevin de Vries, DJ Push, and Hardwell.
In 2025, UNITY — a large-scale production created by INSOMNIAC and TOMORROWLAND — was performed nine times at The Sphere in Las Vegas, where he conducted The Symphony of Unity, the first orchestra ever to perform in this iconic venue.