Educator, performer, arranger, and instrument technician specializing in Percussion.
Austin teaches private lessons to students of all ages in the Quad State area. His studios are located in McKenzie, Martin, and Murray.
Austin serves as the Director of Percussion Studies at the University of Tennessee - Martin and Applied Percussion Instructor at Bethel University. He is also the Marching Percussion Instructor for UTM’s Aviator Marching Band. He has previously held percussion teaching positions with the University of Kentucky, Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra, Woodford County High School, DeKalb High School, and Wheaton North High School. He was also the director of instrumental music at Thomas Jefferson High School in Rockford, Il.
Austin has taught percussion ensemble, wind band, percussion sectionals, percussion methods, general music courses, marching percussion, and private lessons covering a range of western, symphonic, contemporary, and world music topics.
Due to his experience in and passion for the public education system, Austin’s research and publication is typically focused on educational topics. He has created media published by both the Percussive Arts Society and the Yamaha Educator’s Suite. Additionally, his doctoral research involves the analysis of common middle school and high school level multiple percussion solos to help establish clearer curricular goals for that idiom.
As a performer, Austin specializes in western symphonic percussion as well as the adaption of folkloric idioms into the symphonic setting. He has performed with ensembles such as the Chicago Symphonic Winds, the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra, the Rockford Wind Ensemble, and the Wheaton and DeKalb Municipal Bands. He has also performed in musical productions produced by Interlochen Summer Musical Theatre, Elgin Summer Theatre, Elgin Community College, the Stage Coach Players, and the Jedlicka Performing Arts Center.
A versatile percussionist, Austin’s skills also cover various world music and contemporary styles. As an alumnus of the Northern Illinois Steel Band, Austin possesses a unique level of experience with Caribbean musical styles and instruments. As a leader of Blue Steel and the UK Percussion Ensemble, he has successfully prepared young steel bands to perform a variety of styles from the contemporary and Caribbean idioms.
Austin’s performances are characterized by the juxtaposition of classical music’s attention to detail against the immediate emotional expression of contemporary music.
Through his musical life, Austin has been described as a gear nerd. His knowledge of how instruments are built and generate sound has lead him to being a respected consultent and instrument repair technician.
Austin has been an equipment coordinator for organizations such as the University of Kentucky, the music educator’s associations of Kentucky and Illinois, Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra, and the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp. In these roles he has provided insight into purchasing and selection of instruments as well as addressed the logistical demands of various festivals, camps, and concerts.
Always obsessed with the sounds percussion instruments can generate, Austin has endlessly tinkered, altered, and repaired instruments of all kinds. He also has developed a near unrivaled knowledge of the various products available in the percussion instrument market.
Austin Shoupe is a part of the Black Swamp Percussion Educators’ Network and endorses Zildjian cymbals.
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