Dance, fall in love, hold your breath, and walk out into the light.
Austin Chanu conducts a night of American music, with mezzo-soprano Nikola Printz.
Some concerts give you one feeling. This one takes you through just about all of them, and sends you home lighter than you came.
It starts at a party. A woman crashes a fancy state dinner, hangs paper lanterns around the room, and starts dancing by herself. Then the man in the giant portrait on the wall steps down to join her, and the two of them foxtrot like they’re young again. It’s Chairman Mao and his wife, imagined by an American composer, and the music swoons like an old Hollywood movie.
Then it gets personal. Nikola Printz sings Good Morning, Beauty, four songs about long-term love: the wonder of waking up next to your person, the ruts every couple hits, and the humor that gets you through. Printz knows these songs well. They’ve sung the full cycle with orchestras on the West Coast.
After intermission, the room goes still. Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings is the music people turn to when they need to grieve or remember together. You’ve probably heard it in a film or at a memorial without knowing its name. Hearing it live, in a room full of people holding their breath at the same time, is something else.
Then Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring opens the windows. It’s bright, open music about a young couple starting a life together, and near the end you’ll hear an old tune called Simple Gifts. You’ll probably know it the second it starts.
Bring someone you love. Bring the friend who could use a good night out. Get dinner downtown, come early for the pre-concert talk if you want the backstory, and give yourself two hours that cover the whole range of what a person can feel.
Keep going
The PEC Inc. Masterworks Series has four more nights this season: Heroic Aspirations in January, Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony in March, Brahms Requiem in April, and Shostakovich Symphony 5 in May. Build a FlexPack with the concerts you want, up to 10, and pay subscriber pricing for all of them.
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GOOD TO KNOW
How long is it? About two hours, including a 20-minute intermission.
What should I wear? There’s no dress code. Dress up if you feel like it, or come as you are.
When should I get there? Doors open at 6:00 PM. The pre-concert talk starts at 6:30, and the concert starts at 7:30. There’s a full bar and a snack bar in the lobby.
When do I clap? Some pieces have short pauses between sections. Most people hold applause until the whole piece is finished. When Austin turns around to face the audience, that’s your cue.
Where do I park? The Oncenter garage on E. Adams Street and the Oncenter lot on Harrison Street are right next to the theater. More parking options here.
Running late? No problem. You’ll be seated at the next break in the music.
PROGRAM
The Chairman Dances: Foxtrot for Orchestra (Adams): John Adams wrote this while working on his opera Nixon in China. Madame Mao crashes a presidential banquet, Mao steps down from his portrait, and the two of them dance back in time to when they were young. 
Good Morning, Beauty (Heggie), with Nikola Printz, mezzo-soprano: Four songs by Jake Heggie, with words by Taylor Mac. Romantic and funny, about what love looks like after the honeymoon. About 20 minutes.
Adagio for Strings (Barber): Slow, written for the strings alone, and built on long lines that keep rising. One of the most recognized pieces of American music ever written.
Appalachian Spring: Suite(Copland): Written for dancer and choreographer Martha Graham. Open, bright, and hopeful, with variations on the Shaker tune Simple Gifts near the end.
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Hailed as “one of the great talents in the USA at the moment” by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Brazilian-American conductor Austin Chanu is the newly appointed Music Director of The Syracuse Orchestra. He has also earned recognition as a four time recipient of the Career Assistance Award from the ...
Hailed as “one of the great talents in the USA at the moment” by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Brazilian-American conductor Austin Chanu is the newly appointed Music Director of The Syracuse Orchestra. He has also earned recognition as a four time recipient of the Career Assistance Award from the Solti Foundation U.S., and as the third prize and orchestra prize winner in the Korean National Symphony Orchestra International Conducting Competition.
In the 25-26 season, Austin made debuts with The Syracuse Orchestra, the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra. He has also been named a finalist in The Mahler Competition 2026 and will compete in June conducting the Bamberger Symphoniker. In recent seasons, he has appeared as a guest conductor with The Philadelphia Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Filarmonica Banatul Timișoara, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and Omaha Symphony.
Previously, Austin was the Assistant Conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra, where he assisted Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin. During this time, he co-lead a project to restore, rebuild, and elevate the underperformed works of American composer William Grant Still. He helped create and conducted the world premiere of a newly restored edition of Still’s Wood Notes.
Austin made his subscription debut with The Philadelphia Orchestra conducting Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. Critics commended his interpretation saying, “the orchestra never sounded better as Chanu led with primal energy and shamanistic insight into the music… the orchestra matched Chanu’s confident leadership in a performance of searing energy and heart-thumping passion” (Broad Street Review).
Austin has a passion for contemporary music, stemming from his own background as a composer. He served as a teaching artist and conductor for the LA Philharmonic Association’s Associate Composer Program, as well as a Conducting Fellow at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, where he studied with conductor Cristian Măcelaru. He was commissioned by the Eastman School of Music to compose an orchestral work for the school’s centennial celebration and conducted its world premiere in the Fall of 2021.
Austin was also formerly the Music Director for the Los Angeles Music and Art School, where he conducted and developed the artistic direction for the youth orchestra, choirs, and jazz band. Austin found it rewarding to draw on his Latino heritage to foster representation for the predominantly Latinx students and families in the program through repertoire selection.
In addition to his orchestral background, Austin has extensive experience in jazz and musical theatre styles. While living in Los Angeles, he was a high-call woodwind performer for musical pit orchestras and jazz ensembles.
Austin received a B.M. in Music Composition from the USC Thornton School of Music, graduating Magna cum Laude. He also graduated from the Eastman School of Music with an M.M. and DMA in Orchestral Conducting.
Nikola Printz, a versatile artist making waves in Opera, Concert, and Recital, is noted for performances that are “heartrending, musically resplendent…and thrillingly fierce” (San Francisco Chronicle) and praised for possessing a “richly colored and flexible voice, complemented by a powerfully expressive physicality” (San Francisco Classical ...
Nikola Printz, a versatile artist making waves in Opera, Concert, and Recital, is noted for performances that are “heartrending, musically resplendent…and thrillingly fierce” (San Francisco Chronicle) and praised for possessing a “richly colored and flexible voice, complemented by a powerfully expressive physicality” (San Francisco Classical Voice). Noted American journalist Joshua Kosman reflects with “marvel at the career trajectory of Nikola Printz, who has recently made an artistic sprint from apprentice to star in what feels like the blink of an eye.”
Nikola Printz makes their London debut in autumn 2025, performing under the baton of Marin Alsop in a concert presentation of Laura Karpman’s opera Balls at the Royal Festival Hall with The Philharmonia. Printz portrays tennis legend Billie Jean King in the groundbreaking work, which dramatizes the historic 1973 “Battle of the Sexes” match. Karpman – an Oscar-nominated composer known for her acclaimed scores for American Fiction, The Marvels, and Kung Fu Panda 2 – is a leading advocate for equality in the film industry. She wrote the role of Billie Jean King specifically for Printz, who originated the part in the world premiere staged production by Opera Parallèle.
Highlights of the 2025–26 season include performances of Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été with the Vallejo Symphony, as well as Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, singing the role of Jade Boucher and covering the lead role of Sister Helen Prejean in Leonard Foglia’s compelling production, conducted by Patrick Summers. The artist also covers the role of Kundry in a brand-new San Francisco Opera production of Parsifal, directed by Matthew Ozawa and led by Music Director Eun Sun Kim. Additional appearances of the season include a debut at Opéra de Lille in a production of Philip Glass’ Les Enfants terribles and a titular role debut as Handel’s Alcina with the Bay Area’s Festival Opera.
At San Francisco Opera – which Nikola Printz considers their “home company” – performance highlights include the titular role in Carmen Encounter, as well as featured roles during their two-year Adler Fellowship in Kaija Saariaho’s Innocence, Gabriela Lena Frank’s El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego, and Mason Bates’ The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs. Additional engagements include the role of Carmen with Festival Opera in the Bay Area, a UK debut at the Grange Festival, Peter Lieberson’s haunting Neruda Songs with Edwin Outwater conducting the Symphony of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and a tour with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra in Summer of Love—a vibrant program spanning global genres and featuring works by Tchaikovsky, Bernstein, and John Williams, alongside classic pop songs made famous by Nat King Cole and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.
In recent seasons Nikola Printz has brought to life a diverse range of operatic characters including Dido (Dido and Æneas), Elle (La voix humaine), Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), and the title role of Orfeo ed Euridice. No stranger to the Symphony stage, the artist has appeared with the San Francisco Symphony in performances of Falla’s El Sombrero de Tres Picos and Mahler’s iconic Das Lied Von der Erde with the San Francisco Ballet and Vallejo Symphony.
A cosmopolitan curator and magnetic recitalist, Nikola Printz is the recipient of a 2025 Richard Tucker Career Grant from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation and the 2021 Schwabacher Debut Recital Award. They have impressed both audiences and critics alike, earning acclaim for their 2022 Schwabacher Debut Recital under the auspices of San Francisco Opera. Printz also was celebrated for their “March Madness” program—an exhilarating descent into identity, reinvention, and musical rebellion—featuring songs made famous by The Pixies, Elliott Smith, Kurt Weill, Nina Simone, and Nina Hagen, performed at the Chan National Queer Arts Center.
Nikola Printz is an accomplished aerialist, distinguished for designing, choreographing, and performing acrobatic opera productions in grand concert halls and smoky cabaret clubs across North America and internationally. Beyond their operatic and acrobatic work, they enjoy composing music, playing piano and guitar, cycling, practicing film photography, engaging in activism, and exploring the subversion of gender norms through art and performance.
