Article

Kevin Austin

Published Online August 1, 2007

Last Edited October 20, 2014

Kevin Austin. Composer, teacher, b London 10 Jul 1948, naturalized Canadian 1984; B MUS composition (McGill) 1970, MMA composition (McGill) 1973. He studied composition and electroacoustics at McGill University with István Anhalt, Paul Pedersen, Alcides Lanza, and Bengt Hambraeus.

Austin, Kevin

Kevin Austin. Composer, teacher, b London 10 Jul 1948, naturalized Canadian 1984; B MUS composition (McGill) 1970, MMA composition (McGill) 1973. He studied composition and electroacoustics at McGill University with István Anhalt, Paul Pedersen, Alcides Lanza, and Bengt Hambraeus. Appointed to Concordia University in 1970, he founded the Concordia Electroacoustic Studios the following year. He also taught 1972-8 at McGill University and 1973-6 at the State U of New York at Potsdam. In 1971 he helped found the live electroacoustic improvisation ensemble MetaMusic,. The group disbanded in 1978 and Austin continued to work with numerous other musicians until the founding in 1982 of the Concordia Electroacoustic Composers' Group (Concordia University Electroacoustics). In 1986, with Jean-François Denis, he founded the Canadian Electroacoustic Community.

Besides instrumental and vocal composition, Austin has composed many other works, principally in electroacoustics (live, on tape, and improvised), and multi-disciplinary works. A partial list can be found in Q/Résonance and Q/Résonance Addendum (Montreal 1988, 1989). A recording of his work Tears of Early Morning Rain and Cat Fade Away appeared in 1990 on 4-ACM 37 (CD).