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.

Pianist Scott Cuellar is an assistant professor of applied music and performance (piano) in the Setnor School of Music at Syracuse University, where he teaches applied piano as well as other keyboard-related courses.

In reviewing Cuellar’s debut recital at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, David ...

Pianist Scott Cuellar is an assistant professor of applied music and performance (piano) in the Setnor School of Music at Syracuse University, where he teaches applied piano as well as other keyboard-related courses.

In reviewing Cuellar’s debut recital at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, David LaMarche of the New York Concert Review described Cuellar’s performance as “virtuosic in scope and expression, like a great man of the theater,” and praised his “ability to illuminate both the external structure and the emotional core of the work he plays.” He has been described by Cleveland Classical as possessing “nerves of steel, a formidable technique and an architect’s understanding of structure.” The San Antonio Express-News praised his “luxuriant exploration” of Liszt’s First Piano Concerto, adding that his “technique was clean, his melodies and cadenzas were expressive, but most noticeable was his keyboard fluidity.”

Cuellar has given solo recitals at major venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, the Newport Music Festival, the Polytheatre Chongqing and the Shenyang Conservatory of Music in the People’s Republic of China, and has been a guest recitalist at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, the Gijón International Piano Festival in Asturias, Spain, the Conservatorio Nacional de Música in Lima, Peru, Boston Conservatory and at the University of Washington. He has presented masterclasses at Renmin University in Beijing, Lee University, Grand Valley State University and has lectured at The Juilliard School. He has appeared as a soloist with the San Antonio Symphony, the Louisiana Philharmonic, the Rochester Symphony Orchestra, the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra, the Oberlin Orchestra, the Lima Symphony Orchestra and several others.

Cuellar is featured on composer Gity Razaz’s debut album “The Strange Highway” (2022) with violinist Francesca DePasquale, released on BIS Records. He has performed with many of the world’s great artists, including Cho-Liang Lin, Jennifer Koh, Chee-Yun, Mark Nuccio, Desmond Hoebig, the Miró Quartet and Timothy Jones. He is a founding member of the Rodin Trio, along with assistant concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony Philip Marten and current Karajan Fellow Joshua Halpern. He has performed at the La Jolla Music Society’s Summerfest, the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival and the Cactus Pear Chamber Music Festival. He has been heard on WQXR in New York, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Seattle’s King FM, Houston Public Media and others.

Cuellar won the gold medal at the 2016 San Antonio International Piano Competition, where he also received prizes for the best performance of both a Romantic work (Robert Schumann’s “Humoreske”) and a Russian work (Sergei Prokofiev’s “Piano Sonata No. 4”). He was the gold medalist in the solo division of the 2013 Virginia Waring International Piano Competition, where he was also awarded the silver medal in the concerto division, and was the winner of the Krenek Prize for the best performance of a sonata by Ernst Krenek. Additionally, he was the bronze medalist at the 2016 New Orleans International Piano Competition.

Cuellar holds a doctor of musical arts from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where he studied with Jon Kimura Parker. He earned a master of music from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Julian Martin, and he received a bachelor of music from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Alvin Chow. During his time at Oberlin, he won three of the largest prizes offered to pianists: the Oberlin Concerto Competition, the Arthur Dann Competition and the John Elvin Prize for Juniors. He was previously an assistant professor at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he taught chamber music, secondary piano and class piano.