10 Fascinating Facts about Baritone Justin Austin
The charismatic baritone Justin Austin, performing as Jake in the Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess in Houston this fall, has a long history with this iconic American opera—and a surprising HGO connection. As the fast-rising Philadelphia-based artist prepares to make his company mainstage debut, here are 10 things to know about him right now:
In 2024, he won both the International Opera Award for Rising Star of the Year and the Marian Anderson Vocal Award.
“It was the first opera I ever saw,” he says. “It was the first opera I was ever a part of. It was my first experience on the stage, and I loved it. I got bitten by the bug, and I haven't stopped since.”
He played Clara’s baby in a production that also starred his parents. His current character, Jake, is the baby’s father. He also performed in Porgy and Bess as a 4-year-old boy soprano, in the role of Scipio, and even had “a little singing line."
“I went through a whole 10-year period after I turned 12 where I had to learn how to sing again,” he says. “It was really scary because that’s what I had dedicated my life to, and that’s what I wanted to do with my career.”
“Also in the cast were my mom, who was performing as Lily, and my dad as Robbins. It was surreal, but it was the perfect situation for me to be reintroduced to the world of solo singing. I had the support of both my parents and the cast. There’s something special about Porgy casts. We all are there for each other, and we all lift each other up.”
His mom, mezzo-soprano Alteouise deVaughn, trained with the Studio during the 1980-81 season, and his dad, tenor Michael Austin, performed with HGO in the 1984 American premiere of Philip Glass’s Akhnaten.
in 2024 in Giving Voice at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, and in 2025 in Joel Thompson and Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton’s world-premiere song cycle, A Voice Within, at Emancipation Park. “Joel, his writing is so nuanced and gorgeous,” Austin says. “We were able to create something really beautiful, and specifically for the community. It was an opportunity for me to find out more about the people of Houston, the resilience of Houston, but also to just sing some beautiful music and to be featured in recital with the company that I have looked up to since I was a kid.”
“Having grown up with the show, I'm very picky with what I like and don't like,” he says. “And I remember telling my mom that Angel was the best Clara I'd ever heard.”
Blue is “the biggest thing in opera right now,” he says. While the two have never performed together, they have rehearsed together—in 2021 at the Met, in Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in my Bones, when she had a lead role and he was a cover. “It was just me and Angel singing through the whole show with the maestro, and it was probably one of the most magical moments of my career.”
Major upcoming roles include his house debut at San Francisco Opera in the title role of The Barber of Seville, creating the role of Lucky Mack in the world premiere of Missy Mazzoli’s The Galloping Cure with the Scottish Opera and Festival Edinburgh, and many more international roles and concerts.