Terry Austin has served as the Interim Chair of the Department of Music since 2018. He is also Director of Bands and Professor of Music, overseeing all aspects of the band program and teaching courses in conducting and music education. Under his leadership, the Virginia Commonwealth University Symphonic Wind Ensemble has earned a reputation for musical excellence and has been invited to perform at many professional conferences including the American Bandmasters Association, MENC, the College Band Directors National Association, and the Virginia Music Educators Association.

He is an active guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator and is published in numerous journals and is the general editor of The Journal of Band Research, A Repertoire Anthology (1964-1989) published by GIA. Dr. Austin is a regular guest conductor of the Musashino Academia Musicae Wind Ensemble and is a Guest Professor of the Center of General Education of Guangdong University of Technology in Guangzhou, China.

Austin was the 78th President of the American Bandmasters Association. He served as the chairman of the National Band Association/William D. Revelli Band Composition Contest, is chairman of the Bandworld/John Philip Sousa Foundation Legion of Honor, a member of the Board of Directors of the John Philip Sousa Foundation, and a past board member of the National Band Association, and the Southern Division of NAfME: The National Association for Music Education and past-president of the Virginia Music Educators Association.

He is a member of the College Band Directors National Association, Pi Kappa Lambda, Phi Beta Mu, and an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi. Dr. Austin is included in Who’s Who In America, Who’s Who in Fine Arts Higher Education, and Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. He is a multiple recipient of the National Band Association’s Citation of Excellence and in 2005 he received the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts Distinguished Achievement Award of Excellence.

He founded and conducts the Greater Richmond Youth Wind Ensemble, an ensemble of the finest high school musicians in the Richmond metropolitan area, and the Commonwealth Winds, an ensemble comprised of Richmond area teachers and professional performers.

Austin earned a Bachelor of Music Education from Indiana University, a Master of Arts in Music Education from the University of Hawaii, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Music Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He lives in Richmond with his wife, Tracia and twin sons Joshua and Seth.