Originally from Richardson, Texas, he began playing the horn at age 11. Having fallen in love with symphonic music, he went on to study music performance at Southern Methodist University, graduating in 2021 with a Bachelor of Music in Horn Performance and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. While at SMU, he studied under Greg Hustis, Haley Hoops, David Heyde, and Alex Kienle and was awarded the Presser Undergraduate Scholar Award. Ruff also studied with Gail Williams and Jon Boen while pursuing a master’s degree at Northwestern University. Other notable mentors include John Henes and Neil Kimmel. During his time in Chicago, Ruff was an Associate Musician with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Austin Ruff was appointed Associate Principal Horn of the Omaha Symphony in the spring of 2022. He has been a Guest Principal Horn of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the Kansas City Symphony and Rochester Philharmonic. He was a Fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center, Sarasota Music Festival, and the National Repertory Orchestra, where he was a concerto competition winner and featured soloist.