Latin Rhythms

Arturo Márquez’s Danzón No. 4 pulses with elegance and playful charm, capturing the spirit of traditional Cuban dance. Alberto Ginastera’s Variaciones Concertantes blends virtuosic flair with bold, modern textures, showcasing the orchestra’s solo musicians throughout. The evening concludes with Juan Pablo Contreras’s Mariachitlan, a vivid homage to mariachi and Mexican folk traditions. Together, these works highlight the rhythmic vitality and vibrant spirit of Latin American orchestral music.

Program:
- Márquez: Danzón No. 4
- Ginastera: Variaciones Concertantes
- Contreras: Mariachitlan

Featured artist

Austin Chanu, conductor

Hailed by Yannick Nézet-Séguin as “one of the great talents in the USA at the moment,” Brazilian-American conductor Austin Chanu is the newly appointed Music Director of The Syracuse Orchestra. He is a four-time recipient of the Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award and won third prize and the orchestra prize at the Korean National Symphony Orchestra International Conducting Competition.

In the 2025–26 season, Chanu 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, Chanu was Assistant Conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra, assisting Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin. He co-led a project to restore and elevate underperformed works by American composer William Grant Still, and helped create and conduct the world premiere of a newly restored edition of Still’s Wood Notes.

Chanu made his subscription debut with The Philadelphia Orchestra conducting Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. Broad Street Review praised his interpretation, writing that “the orchestra never sounded better as Chanu led with primal energy and shamanistic insight into the music.”

With a background as a composer, Chanu has a passion for contemporary music. He was a teaching artist and conductor for the LA Philharmonic Association’s Associate Composer Program and 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 premiere in fall 2021.

Chanu was also Music Director of the Los Angeles Music and Art School, where he led and developed the artistic direction of the youth orchestra, choirs, and jazz band. He drew on his Latino heritage to foster representation for the program’s predominantly Latinx students and families through repertoire selection.

He also has experience in jazz and musical theatre, and worked as a woodwind performer for musical pit orchestras and jazz ensembles in Los Angeles.

Chanu 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.