Justin Austin

Possessing a “mighty lyric voice” (The New York Times) “with a burly, burnished tone capable of striking nuance and color” (Washington Post), Drama Desk Award-nominated baritone Justin Austin was named Rising Star of the Year at the 2024 International Opera Awards and is a recipient of the 2024 Marian Anderson Vocal Award. Deemed “a natural performer—a star awaiting a galaxy to form around him” (Washington Post), he has been praised for his “intensity and charisma” (Opera), “rich, pointed expressiveness” (Parterre), and “immaculate musicianship” (Seen and Heard International).

Following the world premiere of Damien Geter’s American Apollo at Des Moines Metro Opera (“a galvanizing, Herculean performance,” Opera Today) and appearances at Caramoor and the Sag Harbor Song Festival in summer 2024, Justin begins the 2024-25 season with his house debut at Los Angeles Opera as Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette, returning to the company later in the season in his role debut as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte. He also returns to Opera Theatre of St. Louis for the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon’s This House, starring as Lindon. In concert, he returns to Carnegie Hall for Brahms’s Deutsches Requiem with the Cecilia Chorus of New York, and joins for selections from Terence Blanchard’s Champion and Fire Shut Up In My Bones at La Jolla Music Society in La Jolla, CA, The Soraya in Northridge, CA, and with Seattle Theatre Group, among others. He also returns to Stuttgart, Germany, for a concert with the Stuttgart Philharmonic and Opera for Peace as well as New York Festival of Song for My Brother’s Keeper at Kaufman Music Center, an event he personally conceived. He and pianist Howard Watkins additionally give a recital at the Peace Center in Greenville, South Carolina, and Justin appears at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music for a guest recital.

Last season, Austin starred as Young Emile in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s premiere of Terence Blanchard’s Champion to great critical acclaim. He returned to the Metropolitan Opera, opening their season as the Motorcycle Cop in the company’s premiere of Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking in a new production directed by Ivo van Hove and conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, as well as Washington National Opera making his role debut as Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette. He additionally sang the title role in The Barber of Seville at Opera Theatre of St. Louis and performed in the New York premiere of Damien Geter’s song cycle COTTON alongside Denyce Graves at the 92nd Street Y. In concert, he gave the Marian Anderson Vocal Award Recital at the Kennedy Center as the 2024 recipient and gave concerts with Houston Grand Opera, Strathmore and Washington Performing Arts, the Kimmel Center, and Des Moines Metro Opera. He gave recitals with pianist Howard Watkins at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, the Longy School of Music with the Celebrity Series of Boston, Gore Recital Hall (at the University of Delaware on Delaware’s Master Player’s Concert Series), and Atlanta’s Spivey Hall (Clayton State University).

Austin has received accolades and awards from The Recording Academy, NAACP, George London Foundation, Washington National Opera, Opera Ebony, Gerda Lissner Foundation, Manhattan School of Music, NANM, Choir Academy of Harlem, and Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. He is the recipient of a 2023 Mabel Dorn Reeder Award from Opera Theatre of St. Louis which goes to “the single artist in each season with the greatest potential to make a significant contribution to the art form of opera.” He is under the tutelage and mentorship of Catherine Malfitano.

Born in Stuttgart, Germany, Austin is an alumnus of the Choir Academy of Harlem, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, Heidelberg Lied Akademie, and Manhattan School of Music (M.M. and B.M.).