Gazing out onto the stage, you, the concertgoer, belong not just to the audience, but to a house. Beneath that roof, performer and audience stand together, sharing one simple goal: To have a good time.

When clarinetist Bryan Layne attended a collaborative concert between Video Games Live and the Houston Symphony, he knew that he wanted to perform music professionally and to do so in a variety of genres for a variety of audiences. Through this effort, he hopes to connect with and entertain people from many different backgrounds with many different interests.

Mr. Layne has performed with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, and Concert Orchestra under the direction of Laurie Rogers, Harlan D. Parker, and Joseph Young, respectively.

As a dedicated chamber musician, Mr. Layne and his fellow members of the Zorion Clarinet Quartet came in third in the 2022 TMEA All-State Chamber Music Competition. That same year they were Junior Division Semi-Finalist at the Coltman Chamber Music Competition. Bryan has since continued to pursue chamber music in other contexts, performing works such as Bartók’s Contrasts alongside pianist Eugene Han and violinist Charmaine Lee under the guidance of Marian Hahn.

A Texas native, Mr. Layne graduated from Spring High School having received the John Philip Sousa Award. In 2026, he graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Clarinet Performance from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and was awarded the Azalia H. Thomas Prize and the Peabody Alumni Award for earning the highest GPA throughout the bachelor's degree program. Throughout his studies, he has worked with extraordinary artists such as Alexander Fiterstein, Christian Schubert, Rob Patterson, Ron Selka, and Sasha Potiomkin.

When not performing, Mr. Layne enjoys spending his downtime reading, writing, and delving into topics such as politics, philosophy, and games, all of which help inform his performances and related musical projects. For example, in 2024, Bryan performed a work by composer Matthew Flynn that involved providing live background music for live gameplay. Regardless of where Bryan finds himself, his first and foremost mission is to entertain and inspire.