Member bio
A native of Longview, Texas, Austin Ferguson studied carillon with Lynnette Geary, University Carillonneur at Baylor University. As a student at The University of Texas at Austin, he led the UT carillon program, playing daily recitals on the Kniker Carillon and instructing members of the student guild. He graduated from UT in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in Music Theory.
In February of 2017, Austin was named the fourth Carillonneur of the Mayo Clinic, where he plays ten weekly recitals on the 1928 Rochester Carillon, the only instrument of its kind in North America owned by a medical center. Under his tenure, Mayo has garnered a reputation for expanding carillon literature by commissioning multiple new compositions for the instrument, most notably works through the annual “Music for Mayo” Carillon Music Series.
Austin is an active member of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America, where he is Co-Editor of “Carillon News,” the Guild’s newsletter, and sits on the Barnes Memorial Grant, Nominations, Arrangements/Transcriptions, and Heritage Music committees. He served on the Guild's Board of Directors from 2020-2023 and as Corresponding Secretary from 2023-2024.
Outside of Mayo, Austin keeps busy as the choir accompanist at First Unitarian Universalist Church of Rochester and teaching a full piano studio.
