Tyler Austin, Music Director & COnductor
Dr. Tyler Austin (He/Him/His) serves as Director of Bands in the F. Ludwig Diehn School of Music at Old Dominion University. He conducts the ODU Wind Ensemble and administers all aspects of the university’s concert and athletic band programs. He teaches wind literature and the undergraduate conducting sequence, mentors undergraduate conductors, and leads a graduate conducting studio.
Dr. Austin is Music Director & Conductor of the Chesapeake Bay Wind Ensemble and Principal Guest Conductor of the Virginia Wind Symphony; these community ensembles are largely composed of music educators, military musicians, and freelance musicians based in the Hampton Roads region.
Dr. Austin works to redefine the role of the 21st-century wind conductor as Founding Artistic Director and Conductor of Newfound Chamber Winds (NFCW), an international ensemble of performers who come together to present concerts and educational outreach programs. A committed advocate of new music, Dr. Austin has commissioned and premiered over 40 works for winds. In Summer 2016 he founded the NFCW Composer Commission Project to fund the composition of original works for chamber winds and to produce professional recordings of these works. In Summer 2024 Dr. Austin and NFCW hosted the inaugural Tidewater Conducting Summit and ODU Band Director’s Workshop, and in 2025 they will launch the Tidewater Composition Workshop. These programs for conductors, composers, performers, and music educators feature pedagogical clinics, a performance series, and coaching sessions with an internationally-recognized artist faculty.
Dr. Austin maintains an active guest conducting and lecturing schedule on the national level and abroad. In October 2023, Dr. Austin served as Principal Conductor and as a conducting clinician for the São Paulo Contemporary Composers Festival at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil. He is Director of Operations and Staff Conductor with the Vienna Contemporary Composers Festival in Vienna, Austria, where he lectures and guest conducts the internationally-acclaimed Ensemble PHACE. He is Director of the Conducting Program for the Sofia Symphonic Summit in Sofia, Bulgaria, where he lectures on conducting and leads the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra as part of their festival performance series dedicated to newly-composed works.
Dr. Austin completed a D.M.A. in Wind Conducting at Michigan State University under Dr. Kevin Sedatole. He holds an M.M. in Bassoon Performance from the University of North Texas under Professor Kathleen Reynolds, and a B.M. in Music Education from Susquehanna University. He is a member of the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. He holds honorary memberships from Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma.
Dr. Austin is Music Director & Conductor of the Chesapeake Bay Wind Ensemble and Principal Guest Conductor of the Virginia Wind Symphony; these community ensembles are largely composed of music educators, military musicians, and freelance musicians based in the Hampton Roads region.
Dr. Austin works to redefine the role of the 21st-century wind conductor as Founding Artistic Director and Conductor of Newfound Chamber Winds (NFCW), an international ensemble of performers who come together to present concerts and educational outreach programs. A committed advocate of new music, Dr. Austin has commissioned and premiered over 40 works for winds. In Summer 2016 he founded the NFCW Composer Commission Project to fund the composition of original works for chamber winds and to produce professional recordings of these works. In Summer 2024 Dr. Austin and NFCW hosted the inaugural Tidewater Conducting Summit and ODU Band Director’s Workshop, and in 2025 they will launch the Tidewater Composition Workshop. These programs for conductors, composers, performers, and music educators feature pedagogical clinics, a performance series, and coaching sessions with an internationally-recognized artist faculty.
Dr. Austin maintains an active guest conducting and lecturing schedule on the national level and abroad. In October 2023, Dr. Austin served as Principal Conductor and as a conducting clinician for the São Paulo Contemporary Composers Festival at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil. He is Director of Operations and Staff Conductor with the Vienna Contemporary Composers Festival in Vienna, Austria, where he lectures and guest conducts the internationally-acclaimed Ensemble PHACE. He is Director of the Conducting Program for the Sofia Symphonic Summit in Sofia, Bulgaria, where he lectures on conducting and leads the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra as part of their festival performance series dedicated to newly-composed works.
Dr. Austin completed a D.M.A. in Wind Conducting at Michigan State University under Dr. Kevin Sedatole. He holds an M.M. in Bassoon Performance from the University of North Texas under Professor Kathleen Reynolds, and a B.M. in Music Education from Susquehanna University. He is a member of the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. He holds honorary memberships from Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma.