Amy Austria (formerly Amy Gravell, b. 1998) is a composer and clarinetist based in Austin, TX. She obtained her bachelors degree in Music Studies from Texas State University, where she studied music education and composition.

 

Austria has had music on the mind since she was a child - she has been making up songs and improvising on the piano as long as she can remember. She began composing for ensembles in high school, which resulted in her first public performance of a work, in 2016. The McNeil High School Band Wind Ensemble played her Depths of the Mind, under the baton of young Austria. She would win 4th place at the Austin Symphony Orchestra Texas Young Composers Competition a year later, and have another piece selected as an honorable mention the year after - both with performances by the Austin Symphony. Her more recent works span a wide variety of instrumentation, including pieces concert band, string quartet, chorus, and various chamber groupings and solo instruments. In 2020, Austria was a selected participant in the Great Plains Composers Workshop, which included coaching sessions with professional musicians and composer Anne Guzzo, and a premiere performance of a new work by cellist Susan Mayo.

 

More than anything, Austria is passionate about telling stories through music. She believes that music is a needed and beautiful way to heal wounds, bring people together, and create a little more feeling of wonder in the world.