Austin Smith is currently Instructor of Oboe at the University of Mississippi, where he directs the oboe studio, teaches applied oboe methods, coaches chamber music and plays with the faculty wind quintet.

As an orchestral musician, Smith is the principal oboe of the North Mississippi Symphony Orchestra and Queen City Opera. He was previously Second Oboe and English Horn with the Muncie Symphony Orchestra. During the summers, he has participated in summer music festivals such as Bowdoin International Music Festival, Maryland Chamber Winds, and most recently Opera in the Ozarks. He plays regularly with orchestras throughout the Midwest and Midsouth including the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Iris Orchestra, Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, among many others.

As an active chamber musician Smith plays with the Memphis-based new music collective, Blueshift Ensemble. Before his appointment to the University of Mississippi he was a founding member of the Cincinnati-based wind quintet, Wayside Winds, and performed regularly on recital series throughout the Cincinnati area.

As a guest clinician, he has presented masterclasses at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Middle Tennessee State University, Arkansas State University, Oklahoma State University, and the University of Southern Mississippi. In addition to giving masterclasses, Smith is in constant demand as both a professional oboe reed maker and teacher. For twelve years he made oboe reeds professionally for Innoledy, a high-end woodwind instrument dealer based in Manhattan where his reeds were played by oboists from all over the world.