Austin Haynes is a countertenor originally from Kā Muriwai/Arrowtown and grew up between there and Naarm/Melbourne. In 2019, he moved to Oxford, England to study a BA and Masters in English literature. As a singer, poet, translator and researcher, Austin’s accolades include winning the 2022 Herald Sun Aria competition in Naarm/Melbourne and was the 2023 winner of takahē journal’s Monica Taylor Poetry Prize. He has performed solo repertoire across Australia and the UK with ensembles including the Brandenburg Orchestra, the Oxford Bach Soloists and Instruments of Time and Truth. He made his professional opera debut as Liang Shanbo in Richard Mills’ The Butterfly Lovers in Singapore (2023) and he will commence a Masters in Voice at the Royal College of Music in September 2024.
A passion for words, Austin writes in both English and te reo Māori, teaches te reo Māori online, and is a Wellington Doctoral Scholar at the Victoria University Wellington where he is researching a PhD on the history of translation of song and literature into te reo Māori. Austin’s vocal studies in the UK are supported by a scholarship from the Tait Memorial Trust.
