Musician Bio

Austin Huntington was appointed principal cellist of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in June 2015 at the age of 20, currently making him one of the youngest principal musicians in a major American orchestra. He was recently the runner-up for the San Francisco Symphony’s principal cello position in March 2022 as well as a finalist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s principal cello position in March 2018. During the summer, Austin is a principal cellist for the Mainly Mozart Festival and Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestras.

Austin is a former first prize winner of the Stulberg and Irving M. Klein international string competitions and is a top prize winner of the Schadt national cello competition. He has performed as soloist with orchestras such as the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Marin Symphony, Colburn Orchestra, Santa Cruz Symphony, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, and the Salomon Chamber Orchestra.

An avid chamber musician, Austin has collaborated with artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Augustin Hadelich, Wu Han, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Garrick Ohlssohn, and Edgar Meyer. He is the chair of the Indianapolis Suzuki Academy’s Board of Directors and previously was a faculty member at Indiana University and the University of Indianapolis.

Austin holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Colburn School Conservatory of Music and a Masters of Music degree from Indiana University, where he studied with Ronald Leonard and Eric Kim respectively. He plays on a beautiful old Italian cello made in Florence, c. 1740.