Terry Austin is Director of Bands and Professor of Music at Virginia Commonwealth University where he oversees all aspects of the band program and teaches courses in conducting, and music education. Under his leadership, the Virginia Commonwealth University Symphonic Wind Ensemble has earned a reputation for musical excellence and has been invited to perform at numerous professional conferences including two performances for the American Bandmasters Association, MENC, the College Band Directors National Association, and numerous appearances at the Virginia Music Educators Association.
He is an active guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator and is published in several journals, including the CBDNA (College Band Directors National Association) Journal, BD Guide, Young BD Guide, Instrumentalist, Dialogue in Instrumental Music Education, The National Band Association Journal, The Indiana Musicator, the Missouri Journal of Research in Music Education, and VMEA (Virginia Music Educators Association) Notes. He has authored chapters in two books and is the general editor of The Journal of Band Research, A Repertoire Anthology (1964-1989).
Austin is Vice-President of the prestigious American Bandmasters Association, chairman of the National Band Association/William D. Revelli Memorial Band Composition Contest, a member of the Board of Directors of the John Philip Sousa Foundation, and a past board member of the American Bandmasters Association, National Band Association, and the Southern Division of MENC: The National Association for Music Education. He is a member of the College Band Directors National Association, Pi Kappa Lambda, Phi Beta Mu, and an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi. He is a past-president of the Virginia Music Educators Association.
Dr. Austin was elected into the American Bandmasters Association in 1999, and is included in Who’s Who In America, Who’s Who in Fine Arts Higher Education, and Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. Dr. Austin is a multiple recipient of the National Band Association’s Citation of Excellence. In 2005 he received the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts Distinguished Achievement Award of Excellence.
He founded and conducts the Greater Richmond Youth Wind Ensemble, an ensemble of the finest high school musicians in the Richmond metropolitan area, and the Commonwealth Winds, an ensemble comprised of Richmond area teachers and professional performers.
Austin earned a Bachelor of Music Education from Indiana University, a Master of Arts in Music Education from the University of Hawaii, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Music Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He lives in Richmond with his wife, Tracia and twin sons Joshua and Seth.