Born in Baltimore, Elizabeth R. Austin received her early musical training at The Peabody Conservatory. When
Nadia Boulanger visited
Goucher College (Towson, MD), she awarded the composer a scholarship to study at the Conservatoire Americaine in Fontainebleau, France, after hearing Austin's song cycle
Drei Rilke Lieder. Her association with the
Hartt School of Music (University of Hartford), where she earned a Master's in Music while on the faculty, included the establishment of a faculty/student exchange with the
Staatliche Hochschule für Musik, Heidelberg-Mannheim. While studying for her Ph.D. at The University of Connecticut, Elizabeth Austin won First Prize in the Lipscomb Electronic Music Competition (with her
Klavier Double for piano and tape). Her awards have included a Connecticut Commission on the Arts grant, selection by GEDOK (Society of Women Artists in Germany/Austria) to represent the Mannheim region in its 70th anniversary exhibition, and First Prize in IAWM's 1998
Miriam Gideon Competition (for
Homage for Hildegard von Bingen, and a Rockefeller Foundation residency at Bellagio, Italy (2001). Performed in
Europe and
Scandinavia, as well as in The United States and the Caribbean Austin's music has been received with distinction and critical acclaim. Featured on Germany's Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, the Leipzig pianist Ulrich Urban has championed her piano music, performing at the Gewandhaus and The National Gallery of Art. Dr. Michael K. Slayton, Professor of Theory/Composition, Blair School of Music, Vanderbilt University, wrote his DMA dissertation (University of Houston, 2000) on Austin's music. The final scene was also performed in 2018 through The Women Composers Festival of Hartford. In honor of their 125th anniversary in 2015, the Hartford Musical Club awarded her a commission, premiered in an Austin portrait concert. In 2017, Austin's
Litauische Lieder was performed in Berlin. Austin's music is published by
Arsis Press, Tonger Musikverlag, Peer Musik, Certosa and recorded on the Parma (Capstone) and Leonarda labels as well as on the 1994 Society of Composers CD and Journal (Vol. 20). Her scores are available through the American Composers Alliance. ==Honors and awards==