Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony

In Le Tombeau de Couperin, Maurice Ravel transforms Baroque dance forms into something unmistakably modern—transparent in texture, refined in gesture, and alive with subtle color. That thread continues when Camillus native and internationally renowned percussionist Michael Burritt joins us to perform his own Marimba Concerto, pairing rhythmic brilliance with expressive lyricism. After intermission, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 41, “Jupiter,” offers a radiant culmination.

Program
- Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
- Burritt: Marimba Concerto
- Mozart: Symphony No. 41 in C Major, “Jupiter,” K. 551

Featured artists

Austin Chanu, conductor

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 is a four-time recipient of the Career Assistance Award from the Solti Foundation U.S. and won third prize and the orchestra prize in the Korean National Symphony Orchestra International Conducting Competition.

In the 2025–26 season, Austin made debuts with The Syracuse Orchestra, the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra. He was also 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 Assistant Conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra, where he assisted Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin. He co-led a project to restore, rebuild, and elevate underperformed works by American composer William Grant Still, helping create and conduct 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. Broad Street Review praised his interpretation: “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.”

With a background as a composer, Austin has a passion for contemporary music. He served as a teaching artist and conductor for the LA Philharmonic Association’s Associate Composer Program and as a Conducting Fellow at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, where he studied with Cristian Măcelaru. The Eastman School of Music commissioned him to compose an orchestral work for its centennial celebration; he conducted its world premiere in fall 2021.

Austin was formerly Music Director of the Los Angeles Music and Art School, where he conducted and developed the artistic direction for its youth orchestra, choirs, and jazz band. Drawing on his Latino heritage, he fostered representation for the program’s predominantly Latinx students and families through repertoire selection.

He also has extensive experience in jazz and musical theatre. While living in Los Angeles, he performed woodwind parts for musical pit orchestras and jazz ensembles. Austin earned a B.M. in Music Composition from the USC Thornton School of Music, graduating magna cum laude, and an M.M. and DMA in Orchestral Conducting from the Eastman School of Music.

Michael Burritt, marimba

Having performed on four continents and in more than forty states, Michael Burritt is one of his generation’s most accomplished percussionists. He performs concert tours and master classes throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Canada. He has appeared as a soloist with the United States Air Force Band, Dallas Wind Symphony, Omaha Symphony, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Nexus, The Paris Percussion Group, The Amadinda Percussion Group, Third Coast Percussion, Ju Percussion Group, Percussion Art Quartet, and Amores Percussion Group.

Burritt has released three solo recordings and numerous chamber recordings, including Home Trilogy with Nexus. He recorded Joseph Schwantner’s Percussion Concerto with the Calgary Wind Ensemble, and recently premiered Fast Forward, a chamber concerto written for him by Schwantner to celebrate the Eastman School’s centennial. A new recording of solo and chamber works by Alejandro Viñao with Third Coast Percussion is forthcoming.

A featured artist at ten Percussive Arts Society International Conventions, Burritt has performed solo concerts at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Purcell Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, the National Performing Arts Center in Beijing, and the Kennedy Center. His chamber and orchestral experience includes performances with the Chicago Chamber Musicians, the Chicago Symphony, and the Peninsula Music Festival Orchestra.

Burritt has composed three concertos and numerous solo and chamber works for marimba and percussion. His solo marimba works are standard repertoire and are frequently required for international competitions. Commissions include the World Marimba Competition in Stuttgart, the Paris International Marimba Competition, Nexus, and the Paris Percussion Group. Zildjian commissioned a work from him for its 400th anniversary in 2023; Third Coast Percussion premiered it at PASIC 2023. His works are published by Keyboard Percussion Publications, C. Alan, Masters Music, and Innovative Percussion.

Burritt is an artist, clinician, and product design consultant for Malletech, where he developed his own line of marimba mallets and the MJB Signature Marimba. He is also an educational clinician with Zildjian, Evans, and Yamaha Drums. He served as President of the Percussive Arts Society from 2021 to 2022, was a member of its Board of Directors from 1996 to 2008, contributed to Percussive Notes magazine from 1991 to 2006, and chaired the PAS Keyboard Committee from 2004 to 2010.

Burritt is the first Paul J. Burgett Distinguished Professor and is Professor of Percussion at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Before joining Eastman, he was Professor of Percussion at Northwestern University from 1995 to 2008. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music and the Performers Certificate from the Eastman School of Music.