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.

Born in the US and raised in Finland, Elina Vähälä made her orchestral debut with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra at the age of twelve and was later chosen by Osmo Vänskä as the orchestra’s ‘Young Master Soloist’. Since then, her career has continued to develop ...

Born in the US and raised in Finland, Elina Vähälä made her orchestral debut with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra at the age of twelve and was later chosen by Osmo Vänskä as the orchestra’s ‘Young Master Soloist’. Since then, her career has continued to develop on the international stage, winning praise from audiences and musicians alike as ‘a fluent, stylish and gifted musician whose brilliant technique is matched by an abundant spirit, sensitivity and imagination’ (Chicago Tribune).

Elina Vähälä appears regularly with all of the key Finnish orchestras as well being a guest of countless high-profile orchestras across the globe such as Houston Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Dortmund Philharmoniker, Istanbul State Symphony, Malmo Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, RTVE Spanish Radio Orchestra, and has toured throughout the UK, Finland, Germany, China, Korea and South America. She enjoys a fruitful working partnership with many leading conductors such as Leonard Slatkin, Carlos Kalmar, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Okko Kamu, Jakub Hrůša, Thierry Fischer, Sakari Oramo, Leif Segerstam, Josep Caballé-Domenech, Alexander Liebreich, and Michał Nesterowicz.

Recent seasons saw Elina Vähälä perform with the Gothenburg Symphony, Norrkoping Symphony, Nordic Chamber Orchestra, Belgrade Philharmonic, Prague Radio Symphony, Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra in Ostrava, the Helsinki Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Turku Philharmonic, Oulu Symphony Orchestra and Wroclaw Philharmonic. She also appeared at festivals in Tampere, Clandeboye, Seoul and Oulu, where she had been appointed Co-Artistic Director, together with saxophonist Jukka Perko.

Other highlights of past seasons include debuts with the Orchestre National de Lyon, Polish National Radio Symphony, Singapore Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Orchestra, Qingdao Symphony, RTÉ National Symphony, Gävle Symphony, Shenzhen Symphony, and performances with the Finnish Radio Symphony, Lahti Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Niederrheinische Symphony, Norrlandsoperan Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic and Colorado Symphony.

Elina Vähälä has given world premieres of Aulis Sallinen’s Chamber Concerto, Curtis Curtis-Smith’s Double Concerto, Jaakko Kuusisto’s Concerto, and Kalevi Aho’s Concerto no 2, all of which were written for her, as well as the Jan Sandström’s Concerto. In addition, Elina Vähälä gave the first Nordic performance of Corigliano’s Violin Concerto ‘The Red Violin’ and continues to be one of the soloists of choice for this work. Befitting her Finnish roots, she is one of very few to perform the Sibelius concerto in its early version.

Her affinity with the music of the 20th and 21st centuries is evident back in recent recordings: a disc devoted to the music Aho, including his Violin Concerto no 2, and a project with the Polish National Radio Symphony and with Alexander Liebreich as part of their focus on Szymanowski.

Educational activities play an important role in her commitment to music. In 2009 Elina Vähälä launched the Violin Academy; funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the academy is a master class based educational project for highly talented young Finnish violinists. Previously professor at the Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe, Germany, she has been professor at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna since September 2019. Elina Vähälä performs with a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin made in 1780.