Andrew Haile Austin

Andrew Haile Austin is a composer, pianist, and conductor currently living in Brooklyn. Upon moving to NYC, he worked at several arts schools while freelancing as a conductor. Since that time, he has music directed almost 100 productions of operas and musicals across the country. As a composer, he has participated three times in the Golden Fleece Opera’s Square One Series in New York and has also had his operatic works presented in NYC, VA, and Baltimore. Andrew graduated from James Madison University, studying with John Hilliard and Jason Haney, with Master’s degree where he was awarded the James A. Riley Award for his song cycle, "Melville Songs.” Other of his songs have been presented at the New York Festival of Song in NYC. In 2016, he was named composer-in-residence for the Tidewater Opera Initiative in Norfolk, VA who presented his opera, The Snow Maiden of Appalachia. His cantata, Medusa, and the chamber piece “Medusa’s Song and Dance” based on the same material, have been awarded prizes by SCI/ ASCAP and Project Trio, respectively. Andrew holds a doctorate in composition from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University where he studied with Kevin Puts. www.andrewhaileaustin.com