Shostakovich Symphony 5

Syracuse University professor Natalie Draper’s Energy and Light opens with driving momentum and shimmering orchestral color. At the center stands Jean Sibelius’s Violin Concerto in D Minor, performed by Finnish violinist Elina Vähälä—a concerto that intertwines stark beauty, icy virtuosity, and soaring lyricism. The program culminates in Dmitry Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, a work of gripping contrasts that balances brooding tension with blazing intensity.

Program:
- Draper: Energy and Light
- Sibelius: Concerto for Violin in D Minor, Op. 47
- Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op. 47

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 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 2025–26 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-led 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: “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 fall 2021.

Austin was formerly 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. He drew 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.

Elina Vähälä, violin

Born in the US and raised in Finland, Elina Vähälä made her orchestral debut with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra at age twelve and was later chosen by Osmo Vänskä as the orchestra’s “Young Master Soloist.” Her career has continued to develop on the international stage, earning praise 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 Finnish orchestras and as a guest with orchestras around the world, including the Houston Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Dortmund Philharmoniker, Istanbul State Symphony, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, and RTVE Spanish Radio Orchestra. She has toured throughout the UK, Finland, Germany, China, Korea, and South America, and has worked with conductors including 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 have included performances with the Gothenburg Symphony, Norrköping Symphony, Nordic Chamber Orchestra, Belgrade Philharmonic, Prague Radio Symphony, Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra in Ostrava, Helsinki Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Turku Philharmonic, Oulu Symphony Orchestra, and Wrocław Philharmonic. She has also appeared at festivals in Tampere, Clandeboye, Seoul, and Oulu, where she was appointed Co-Artistic Director with saxophonist Jukka Perko.

Other highlights 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, and Shenzhen Symphony, as well as 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, Kalevi Aho’s Concerto No. 2, and Jan Sandström’s Concerto, all written for her. She gave the first Nordic performance of Corigliano’s Violin Concerto “The Red Violin” and continues to be one of the soloists of choice for the work. She is also one of very few violinists to perform the Sibelius concerto in its early version.

Her recent recordings include a disc devoted to the music of Aho, including his Violin Concerto No. 2, and a project with the Polish National Radio Symphony and Alexander Liebreich as part of their focus on Szymanowski.

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