Acclaimed violinist Austin Hansen has performed in numerous solo concerts, recitals, and music festivals, including a solo in the Hollywood Bowl’s 2001 Easter Sunrise Service. In addition, between 2003 and 2007, he appeared as soloist with orchestras on six different occasions, and more recently, he appeared on two separate occasions with the St. Petersburg Symphony. Austin has also given numerous recitals at the Verbier Festival, New England Conservatory, Peabody Institute, Colburn School, University of Southern California, and around the Boston, Los Angeles, and Baltimore/Washington DC areas. Austin has also attended such prestigious music festivals such as the Verbier Festival as principal violin, and performed solo recitals at the Académie Internationale d’Été de Nice in Nice, France. Austin was also featured as the soloist for the premiere of Maria Newman’s “A Litany of Psalms”, premiered at the Colburn School in Los Angeles.
Austin began playing the violin at the age of four at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, Connecticut. After his family moved west in 1997, he studied at the Colburn School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles with Amy Hershberger, and also studied with Linda Rose, Ruggiero Ricci, and Alice Schoenfeld at USC. He completed his studies at the Peabody Institute with Peabody Trio violinist, Violaine Melançon. Austin has also been featured in master classes with numerous esteemed pedagogues including Ivry Gitlis, Ruggiero Ricci, and Ilya Kaler. Austin has also worked with such renowned pedagogues such as Leon Fleisher, Stephen Drury, Seth Knopp, Michael Kannen, and Marian Hahn.
Austin joined the Calgary Philharmonic in the 2018 season after completing a violin performance degree at the New England Conservatory with Malcolm Lowe and Lucy Chapman. He also was awarded a Bachelor of Music from the Peabody Conservatory after studies with Violaine Melançon and Victor Danchenko.