Valerie Austin is a musicologist specializing in early music. A career professor, she taught courses in both general history and music at Saint Andrews University in Laurinburg, NC, and now resides in Gainesville, Florida. Her research areas include early instrumental music and 20th century American music, specifically the crossover between popular and ‘classical’ forms. Also a music educator with a strong Orff background, Dr. Austin has taught music methods classes and started early music ensembles at several universities, and for those groups published The Early Music Gig Book and The Holiday Gig Book. She has served on the board of the American Recorder Society. With musical origins as a symphonic trumpet player, Austin specializes on the cornett and recorders. She notes that her favorite group with which to perform is the International Guild of Town Bands and Pipers, to whose international gatherings she regularly travels, cornetto in hand.