Houstonians rightly feel pride for the University of Houston. The hometown school has a wealth of tremendous programs and athletic teams that bring energy to our city.
One of those great programs is on display this Friday, as UH alum Billy Stritch returns to campus for An Evening with Billy Stritch and the 2025 UH Singers Collective, on Friday, October 17, 2025.
Stritch, a renowned singer, pianist and musical director long known for his collaborations with Liza Minelli, will perform a program with musical theater students from the Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts.
The students, who have spent the semester studying with Broadway veteran and artist-in-residence Sally Mayes, have been exploring the techniques of lyric interpretation and storytelling through music, with a focus this year on selections from the “Great American Songbook” and musical theater repertoire from the 1950s through the 1970s.
“It’s really fun to come back,” says Stritch, originally from Sugar Land, about coming back to Houston. He attended UH in 1980 and 1981. “It’s going to be a great night!”
While Stritch was studying at UH, he was also playing in nightclubs throughout the city. That’s where he met his first two singing partners, Sharon Montgomery and Sally Mayes. They formed a jazz trio, working around the Houston area.
Stritch left Houston, following what he calls “the lure of working and money,” and went on to have an incredible career, working with A-list stars, and performing on Broadway, becoming a Grammy-award composer and serving as Liza Minelli’s confidant and music director.
The concert will feature works from The Great American Songbook, performed by Stritch and UH students, with Stritch offering stories from his career.
“I might talk a little bit about Liza Minnelli and how I met her,” he says about how the UH show will unfold. “Stories just kind of vary from show to show. But people will get a nice little glimpse into my experiences.”
While he always knew that he’d have a career in music, and he hoped for one like this, he knows his life is a case of luck and talent intertwining.
“ I certainly could not have imagined that I would be working at a club in New York and Liza Minnelli would walk in and we would start working together right away and become instant friends,” he said.
“I got to meet incredible people. Audrey Hepburn. Gregory Peck. Marvin Hamlisch. The list goes on and on. And I am such a fan; I grew up loving show business.”
He knows that many of the singers on the UH stage grew up that way, too, and he is looking forward to working with them.
“ I love being able to pass on some of my knowledge, and certainly give pointers to young performers,” he says. “Because I had people do that for me.”
His number-one piece of advice: be open to learning and to the opportunities around you.
“ You take a little bit from something and a little bit of something else, and it’s not even a conscious thing sometimes, but that all blends together with your own innate ability, and it becomes what you call your own style,” he says. “It’s what makes you unique as a performer.”
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