Meet the Hosts

Born and raised in Coventry in the U.K., St. John came to the U.S. to attend graduate school.  He has a B.A. with honours in French from the University of Liverpool and an M.A. in French from the University of Georgia.  He taught in the UGA Comparative Literature department while working on his Ph.D., but left academia before completing his dissertation.

He has worked for top U.S. public TV and radio stations for more than twenty years including as host of the award-winning book show Cover to Cover for the Georgia Public Broadcasting radio network, classical music director for KUHF/88.7FM and KUHA/91.7FM and as Arts & Culture Director for Houston Public Media (TV 8, News 88.7 & Classical 91.7) where he hosted the daily radio arts show The Front Row; the Opera Cheat Sheet podcast; the Houston Symphony weekly radio broadcasts; and various TV arts programs including the Houston Symphony Season Announcements and the Skyline Sessions.  He was also a cast member of Manor of Speaking, TV 8's Emmy award-winning syndicated Downton Abbey after-show.

He is the longtime host of the Houston Grand Opera Guild’s Opera Night Live series and has appeared on stage as host or narrator with the Houston Symphony; Texas Music Festival Orchestra; Houston Youth Symphony; Houston Heights Orchestra; Symphony North of Houston; Valdosta (GA) Symphony; and Piedmont College Orchestra, among others.

A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Eric moved to Texas in the mid-80s and has now called Houston home for 30 years. He is currently the Senior Director of Communications for the Houston Symphony where he is associate producer for the Houston Symphony radio broadcasts which he also writes and hosts.

Eric previously directed public relations for Houston Grand Opera and the Cleveland Orchestra, and worked in corporate fundraising for Houston Public Radio.  

Eric has reviewed classical music and opera for the Houston Chronicle, and he’s written about opera and classical music in publications including Arts + Culture Magazine Texas, Playbill, Time Out New York, In Tune magazine, and Opera Cues magazine. 

His broadcasting credits include co-hosting Houston Grand Opera’s broadcasts on Classical 92.1 KRTS, where he also wrote, produced and hosted weekly opera programming.