MEET THE CANDIDATES

AUSTIN CHANU

Performances:
Masterworks – Shostakovich, Still, & Gershwin (April 11, 2026)
Casual – Fairy Tales (September 27 & 28, 2025)

A recipient of the 2024 and 2023 Career Assistance Award from the Solti Foundation U.S., Brazilian-American conductor Austin Chanu just concluded his tenure the Assistant Conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra, where he assisted Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Austin made his subscription debut with The Philadelphia Orchestra in April 2023 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 recently placed 3rd in the Korean National Symphony Orchestra International Conducting Competition where he also was awarded the orchestra prize. He has appeared as a guest conductor with the Filarmonica Banatul Timișoara, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and Omaha Symphony. He has worked with prominent conductors including Esa-Pekka Salonen, Herbert Bloomstedt, Stéphane Denève, and Marin Alsop.

Austin is currently co-leading a project with The Philadelphia Orchestra to restore, rebuild, and elevate the underperformed works of American composer William Grant Still. Austin recently led the world premiere of a newly restored edition of Still’s Wood Notes that he helped create.

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 2022 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.

Previously, Austin was 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 in 2015, graduating Magna cum Laude. He graduated from the Eastman School of Music in 2021 with an M.M. in Orchestral Conducting.

JACOB JOYCE

Performances:
Masterworks – Awadagin Plays Mozart (March 7, 2026)
Casual – Orchestra Spotlight (January 31 & February 1, 2026)

Currently serving as the Associate Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the Music Director of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra, Jacob Joyce, age 31, is quickly gaining recognition as a dynamic and innovative presence on the podium. Joyce recently stepped in on short notice for performances on the PSO’s subscription series of Sibelius’s Symphony No. 5 and Bernstein’s Serenade with James Ehnes, to widespread critical acclaim. He also recently concluded his tenure as the Resident Conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and has made his debut with several American orchestras in past seasons, including the Detroit, St. Louis, Houston, Colorado, Florida, Ann Arbor, and Baton Rouge symphonies. Abroad, Mr. Joyce has conducted the London Symphony Orchestra, the NDR-Sinfonieorchester, the hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, and the Frankfurt Museumsorchester. For his work in Indianapolis and around the world, he was awarded a Solti Career Assistance Award in 2020.

Mr. Joyce previously served as the Conducting Fellow for the Fort Worth Symphony, with whom he collaborates frequently, and has also held positions as the Associate Conductor of the Yale Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of the Berkeley College Orchestra, Music Director of the Opera Theater of Yale College, and Cover Conductor of the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston. An avid promoter of contemporary music, he has conducted several premieres of orchestral and operatic works. Mr. Joyce is also an advocate for bringing classical music to new audiences. He is the host and creator of the podcast Attention to Detail: The Classical Music Listening Guide, which provides people of all backgrounds with basic techniques for listening to classical music. He also works extensively with educators, music teachers, and orchestra directors, providing career advice and instruction to students across the country.
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Mr. Joyce studied Orchestral Conducting with Hugh Wolff at the New England Conservatory. He has also received instruction at the Tanglewood Music Center and the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen. In recognition of his work, Joyce was awarded the Robert Spano Conducting Prize at Aspen, and was a semifinalist in the LSO Donatella Flick Conducting Competition and the Solti International Conducting Competition. Mr. Joyce graduated from Yale College in 2014, with a B.A. in Music and Economics. He also received a M.M. in Violin Performance from the Yale School of Music in 2015, studying with Syoko Aki.

As a violinist, Mr. Joyce has performed with several orchestras nationwide, and was awarded the Broadus Erle Prize for an Outstanding Violinist at the Yale School of Music. He served as the concertmaster of the Yale Symphony Orchestra, and performed regularly with the Boston Philharmonic and the Atlantic Symphony. He has previously attended the Tanglewood Music Center, the Bowdoin International Music Festival, and Encore School for Strings.

STEPHEN MULLIGAN

Performances:
Masterworks – Prokofiev & Beethoven (October 18, 2025)
Casual – Hansel & Gretel (November 22 & 23, 2025)

American Conductor and Composer Stephen Mulligan has served as Resident Conductor with the Cincinnati Opera, Associate Conductor with the Atlanta Symphony, and Dudamel Conducting Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. 2024-25 season highlights include conducting debuts with Ensemble MusikFabrik, the Filarmonica Transilvania, Junges Sinfonie Orchester Wetzlar, and at the Momentum Festival Berlin, alongside return engagements as a guest conductor at the University of North Texas Opera and as an assistant conductor with the New York Philharmonic. As a composer, Stephen will present a new work with Ensemble MusikFabrik at their studio in Cologne and begin a collaboration with percussionist David Moliner and Universal Edition, culminating in the premiere of a new work at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg in January 2026.

A passionate advocate for contemporary music, Stephen debuted on the New York Philharmonic’s Sound ON Series in 2022 and their 65th Street Session Series in 2023. In demand as a guest conductor, Stephen has led performances with the Dallas Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, National Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, San Antonio Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Sarasota Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, and Virginia Symphony.

Stephen has assisted, prepared stage works, and served as second conductor for many of the world’s top conductors, including Marin Alsop, Karina Canellakis, Gustavo Dudamel, James Gaffigan, Edward Gardner, Manfred Honeck, Jakub Hrůša, Susanna Mälkki, Zubin Mehta, Ludovic Morlot, Peter Oundjian, Matthias Pintscher, David Robertson, Sir Donald Runnicles, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Leonard Slatkin, Robert Spano, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Jaap van Zweden.

As a Dudamel Conducting Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Stephen stepped in for Gustavo Dudamel on short notice to conduct an all-Beethoven program and led other notable performances, including Stravinsky’s complete L’Histoire du Soldat and an All-Ravel Toyota Symphonies for Youth Concert. During his first season as Associate Conductor with the Atlanta Symphony, Stephen stepped in for three classical subscription programs over six weeks to critical acclaim.

A native of Baltimore, Stephen Mulligan began his violin studies with his father, Gregory, and continued with Kyung Yu at Yale University. His conducting teachers include Gustav Meier at the Peabody Institute, Robert Spano at the Aspen Music Festival, and Arturo Tamayo at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana. He has a degree in composition under Jörg Widmann from the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin.

Stephen Mulligan is represented worldwide by Marianne Schmocker Artists New York and Munich.