Austin Hunt

Mr. Austin, a student at the University of Houston, already has an extensive musical background.  As a boy soprano, he sang the title roles of Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors and Humperdink’s Hansel and Gretel at the Globe Theatre of the Southwest in Odessa, Texas, and the solo in Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms with the Midland-Odessa Symphony and Chorale. During High School, he was a member of the TMEA All-Region and All-Area Choir and played the roles of Chino in West Side Story and the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, produced by Class Act Productions of The Woodlands. He also sang with the choir of St. Paul United Methodist Church through an experimental choral group called Choral Scholars. As a result of expanding his musical interests, he joined a rock band called Deep Down, in which he played bass guitar and drums. The experience earned from the band led him back into musical theatre, where he played drums in the DLP production of Grease, and bass guitar for the Town Center Theatre’s production of Godspell.  Also stemming from his background in rock music, he worked for a sound company named SKYGOD, for whom he ran sound at venues such as Sherlock’s, Baker Street Pub, and other Houston locations.  The nature of his diverse background revealed his dream to be a composer, and he began with his first CD Painted Smile, which he debuted at Creekside Park in The Woodlands. Currently, Austin sings with the contemporary vocal ensemble Constellation, and as a tenor section leader for Bethany UMC in Houston, where he is also directing the praise band. He is the Music Director at Academy of Performing Arts, home of Lonestar Jazz, where he is offering lessons in piano, guitar, bass, drums, composition and voice.