Austyn Menk

Admissions Coordinator

Austyn Vaughn Menk is a pianist, organist, composer, arranger and educator from Le Center, Minnesota currently based outside of Chicago, Illinois. At Northern Illinois University, Austyn serves as the music admissions coordinator, a position he entered after completing his M.M. in Jazz Studies at NIU in May 2023.

Austyn has had the great pleasure of playing with groups including Dave Stamps’ MODx big band, active in the Twin Cities area; the Blueshift Big Band led by Joel Baer and Chris Parsons, active in the Chicago area; and is a founding member of IRIS, a quintet led by Arman Sangalang. In July of 2022, IRIS attended the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Academy after having been selected alongside three other groups from the United States. Austyn plays weekly services at St. Paul's United Church of Christ in Hinckley, IL and frequently performs with other Chicago-based artists.

In his teaching, Austyn emphasizes playing healthily and mindfully as well as practicing technical exercises creatively and intentionally to inform the mind and music, a combination of approaches inspired by his former instructors Reggie Thomas, Masayoshi Ishikawa and Paul Baumgartner.