Musician Bio

Austin Brown joined the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra as Principal Flute in the 2024 season. He has previously served as the Associate Principal Flute with the Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestras, and as guest Principal with the Baltimore, Fort Worth, and Redlands Symphony Orchestras. He has also performed with the Jacksonville and Westmoreland Symphony Orchestras. Austin has held residencies as a fellow at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, Brevard Music Center, and Eastern Music Festival.

As a soloist, Austin has been awarded prizes from the Donald Peck International Flute Competition, the Flute Society of Greater Philadelphia’s Young Artist Competition, and the Carnegie Mellon University Baroque Concerto Competition. He is also a laureate of the prestigious Kobe International Flute Competition and the Aeolus International Wind Competition, of which he is one of only a handful of Americans to ever be invited to compete. He has appeared regularly as a soloist with both the Carnegie Mellon University and The Colburn School Baroque Ensembles. He has also appeared as soloist with the Colburn Orchestra and Pittsburgh new music ensemble NAT 28. Most recently, Austin has premiered the newly commissioned piece by David Bennett Thomas for the National Flute Association’s High School Soloist Competition. He has also served as a jury member of the National Flute Association’s Young Artist
Competition.

Austin is very passionate about teaching and has previously held faculty positions with the Colburn School Jumpstart Program and the Pittsburgh Flute Academy. He has given masterclasses at Westminster College and Carnegie Mellon University.

Native to Chattanooga, Tennessee, Austin began his flute studies with former Chattanooga Symphony Principal, Janet Hale. He went on to study with renowned pedagogue Trevor Wye in his Flute Studio Program in Hastingleigh, United Kingdom. He then completed his Bachelor’s in Flute Performance at Carnegie Mellon University where he studied with Alberto Almarza and Jeanne Baxtresser, and earned a Professional Studies Certificate from the Colburn School under the tutelage of Jim Walker.