Life

Elizabeth Austin was born in Baltimore

Baltimore

Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

 and studied at the Peabody Conservatory Preparatory school. She continued her studies with Nadia Boulanger

Nadia Boulanger

Nadia Boulanger was a French composer, conductor and teacher who taught many composers and performers of the 20th century.From a musical family, she achieved early honours as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, but believing that her talent as a composer was inferior to that of her younger...

 in Paris, and graduated with a master's degree from the Hartt School, University of Hartford

University of Hartford

The University of Hartford is a private, independent, nonsectarian, coeducational university located in West Hartford, Connecticut. The degree programs at the University of Hartford hold the highest levels of accreditation available in the US, including the Engineering Accreditation Commission of...

, and a doctorate from the University of Connecticut

University of Connecticut

The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...

.

While completing her studies, Austin taught music at the Hartt School, and she continues to work as an organist at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Windham Center. She married Gerhard Austin, and lives in Mannheim

Mannheim

Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....

 for three months of each year. In 1990 she helped initiate a faculty/student exchange with the Staatliche Hochschule fur Musik Heidelberg

Heidelberg

-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...

-Mannheim. She translates books and scholarly papers and acts as an interpreter for German-speaking composers. In 1997 she assisted with an international exchange between Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

 Composers, Inc. and Brandenburg

Brandenburg

Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...

 composers, supported by the Musikakademie Rheinsberg of Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

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Honors and awards

• First Prize, David Lipscomb Electronic Music Competition for Klavier Double (1983)
• First Prize, IAWM's Miriam Gideon Composition Competition for A Hommage for Hildegard (1998)
• Selected by GEDOK (Society of Women Artists in German-speaking countries) to represent Mannheim-Ludwigshafen in the Lubeck seventieth-year anniversary exhibition (Spring, 1996)
• GEDOK retrospective concert in Mannheim, June 1998

Works

Selected works include:

• When the Song of the Angels is Stilled for mixed chorus a cappella
• Homage for Hildegard (1997)
• Klavier Double for piano and tape (1983)
• Water Music I: Beside still waters... for cello octet
• Drei Rilke Lieder for middle voice and piano (1958)
• B-A-C-Homage for viola and piano (2007)

Her music has been recorded and issued on CD, including:

• Society of Composers, Inc.: Songfest (1995)