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The American choral conductor, Austin McWilliams, Austin hails from the illustrious micropolitan hub of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, where he received his formative training from Rachael Bonk. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in computer engineering with highest honors in 2017 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (August 2013-May 2017). There he studied voice with Dawn Harris, studied electronic music synthesis with Lippold Haken, and sang in the University of Illinois Chamber Singers under the direction of Andrew Megill and Kristina Boerger. At Illinois, he was the teaching assistant for the Varsity Men’s Glee Club and several engineering courses (August 2015-May 2017).
Austin McWilliams is pursuing a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo (Aug 2017-May 2019), where he studies with Kimberly Dunn Adams. As the graduate assistant of choirs at Western, Austin conducts Campus Choir, assistant-conducts the WMU Chorale and Collegiate Singers, and teaches conducting and other courses each semester. He also studies voice (counter-tenor) with Ken Prewitt and keyboard with Karl Schrock. He is a faculty member at Missouri Scholars Academy, an annual, month-long governor’s school for gifted high school juniors.
2018 was Austin McWilliams' second year serving as the Media Director at Ad Astra Music Festival, and this year he designed and conducted the Sunday Evening Series. He currently lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan. |
