Florence Austin

Austin was born in Galesburg, Michigan,[1] the daughter of Edward Eldee Austin and Ella J. Austin. Her father was a surgeon and medical school professor; her sister Marion became an organist and composer under the name M. Austin Dunn.[2]

Austin began studying the violin in Minneapolis at age seven, and went to New York at age 14.[3] There, she studied for several years under Henry Schradieck (1846–1918) and Camilla Urso (1840–1902).[3] She concluded her musical studies under Ovide Musin (1854–1929), with whom she went abroad to enter the Royal Conservatory at Liège (Belgium), under his instruction.[3] The following year she received the first prize in the violin contest with the largest number of competitors in the history of that institute.[3] She received the medal from Eugène Ysaÿe, who was one of the judges.[4]

After her graduation from the Liège Conservatory, she made a successful European debut, followed by performances throughout the United States, including as a member of the Women's String Quartet.[5] She made a coast-to-coast tour in 1910 and 1911.[3] In 1914, she played to acclaim at the Maine Music Festival; later in 1914, she gave a recital at New York's Aeolian Hall.[6] She made another Western tour for the 1916-1917 concert season.[7] In 1920, she toured in a trio with a soprano and a pianist, sponsored by the National Society for Broader Education.[8][9] Her sister sometimes accompanied her on piano. In 1922, after the sisters performed together in Minneapolis, a reviewer noted Florence Austin's "large and beautiful tone, artistic phrasing, and ample technic".[10]

She was selected by Ovide Musin to serve at the head of the violin department of the “Musin Virtuoso School” of Newark.[3] Her students gave a recital at Aeolian Hall in 1908.[11]

Austin died in 1927 in a railroad accident in Fairchild, Wisconsin, aged 43 years.[12]

• Beth Abelson Macleod, Women Performing Music: The Emergence of American Women as Classical Instrumentalists and Conductors (McFarland 2000).