At age seven, Mariel Austin began learning many musical styles and genres through the San Francisco Girls Chorus. After starting trombone lessons at age thirteen, she wrote pieces for her jazz combo at Berkeley High School, where she graduated from in 2007. Thereafter, she studied Jazz Performance at California State University, Northridge, where she composed for the school’s Jazz “A” Band and earned her Bachelor’s Degree in 2011. In 2015, Mariel graduated from New England Conservatory with a Master’s Degree in Jazz Composition. In that same year she was selected by the New York Youth Symphony to compose a commissioned piece, which was premiered at Jazz at Lincoln Center in March of 2016. Mariel is the most recent recipient of the Phoebe Jacobs Award, presented by the ASCAP Foundation. She has premiered her songs and compositions at venues around the country and has appeared on live television shows, including American Idol, The Voice, NBC’s Hollywood Game Night and EstrellaTV’s Noches Con Platanito. In 2016 Mariel recorded her first album, “Runner in the Rain,” featuring her big band compositions and arrangements. It was released in 2018.