Austin McWilliams

Austin McWilliams is a conductor and countertenor who specializes in contemporary vocal music. He strives to present compelling, intriguing art that is directly relevant to the communities in which it is performed. He began his tenure as Chorus Director & Opera Assistant Conductor at Utah Symphony | Utah Opera with the 2024/25 season.

Previously Austin was Associate Conductor and Chorus Master at Opera Grand Rapids, Head of Music at West Michigan Opera Project, and Co-Artistic Director at Ad Astra Music Festival. In Grand Rapids he was the choir director at his beloved Fountain Street Church, a non-denominational, non-creedal institution that serves as a venue for heterodox speakers and ideologies. Content in both the rehearsal hall and classroom, Austin has served as the Director of Choral Activities at Aquinas College and as adjunct faculty and opera conductor at Western Michigan University, where he studied with Kimberly Dunn Adams. He is also a faculty member at Missouri Scholars Academy, a governor’s school for gifted high school juniors in his native state.

Austin has conducted site-specific operas on a shooting range, in a factory, under a park pavilion, and beneath a statue — but rarely on a stage. His work can be seen on PBS affiliates nationwide. Favorite projects include MASS (Bernstein/Schwartz), Stinney: An American Execution (Pollock/Price, world premiere), Our Trudy (Pidgorna/Reva, world premiere), Proving Up (Mazzoli/Vavrek), Considering Matthew Shepard (Johnson), The Last American Hammer (Hilliard/Boresi), and Of Rage and Remembrance (Corigliano). Austin holds degrees in choral conducting and computer engineering.