John Austria

Born and raised in NYC, John grew up in a musical family, learning classical piano from his mother and jazz piano from his bassist father, while singing in the choir of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine with his brother and sister. He attended LaGuardia High School and studied jazz piano with Mike Longo and Barry Harris, while performing in his school’s Senior Jazz Band under the direction of Bob Stewart, where he had many great opportunities to perform with musicians such as Branford Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Ray Barretto, Wynton Marsalis, and Randy Brecker.

John continued his music studies at the City College of New York, where he played in the City College Latin Big Band, under the direction of Ray Santos.

As a performer, John has recorded and toured with musicians such as Sonny Simmons, Michael Marcus, and Henk van Twillert, and can be heard at jazz and blues clubs and venues in and around NYC. He also performs regularly with Lehman College’s Bronx Music Project, where he has been the musical director since 2014.

John has been teaching at UpBeat NYC since its inception in 2009, and in 2015 co-founded the UpBeat NYC Afro-Latin Jazz Band. He also has been on the teaching faculty of the New York Jazz Workshop since 2012 and the non-profit jazz drama program The Jazz Power Initiative since 2021.