About Me

Austin Cruz serves as Adjunct Professor of Trumpet at the University of Olivet and is a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at Michigan State University, supported by the prestigious University Distinguished Fellowship. He is a regular substitute musician with renowned ensembles such as The Cleveland Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, and looks forward to performing with the Cincinnati Symphony and Grant Park Musical Festival this summer. Additional performance affiliations include the New York Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Austin Symphony, and Chautauqua Symphony.

Austin has earned numerous accolades, including runner-up at the International Trumpet Guild Orchestral Excerpts Competition, two-time winner of the Tuesday Musical Solo Competition, and two-time recipient of the Dr. Calvin E. Weber Award, the highest honor for a trumpet student at the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM). As an advocate for diversity in the arts, he is actively involved with the Sphinx Organization, winning the Sphinx Orchestral Partners Association Competition, receiving the Sphinx MPower Artist Grant, and performing as principal trumpet with the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra.

Austin Cruz is dedicated to new music, commissioning “Silver Reflections” by Ayako Pederson-Takeda, which he will premiere at the 2025 International Women’s Brass Conference. As a soloist and chamber musician, he performed as a featured soloist with the Blue Water Chamber Orchestra and served as the first-call trumpeter for Cleveland’s Opus 216. He also recently performed with the Brass Band of Battle Creek for their holiday program.

Austin holds a BM in Trumpet Performance from the University of Texas at Austin and an MM from CIM, where he received a Presidential Scholarship. He also received an Artist Diploma at CIM through their Orchestral Career Fellowship. His major influences include Michael Sachs, Michael Miller, Ryan Anthony, Ray Sasaki, Billy Hunter, Marie Speziale, and Justin Emerich. He has attended prestigious summer festivals such as the Music Academy of the West, National Orchestral Institute, and Round Top Music Festival.