About

A recipient of the 2023 Career Assistance Award from the Solti Foundation U.S., Austin Chanu is currently the Assistant Conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra, where he assists Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, as well as other guest conductors, and leads The Philadelphia Orchestra in select concerts. 

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).

Previously, Austin has appeared as a guest conductor with the Baltimore Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Omaha Symphony, and St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. He was also the Music Director for the Los Angeles Music and Art School. During his tenure at LAMusArt, Austin conducted the youth orchestra, choirs, and jazz band, while overseeing the development of curriculum and artistic direction of the ensembles. During this time he also served as a teaching artist and conductor for the LA Philharmonic Association's Associate Composer Program, and was a high-call woodwind performer for musical pit orchestras in the greater Los Angeles area.

Austin received a B.M. in Music Composition from the USC Thornton School of Music in 2015, graduating Magna cum Laude. While at USC, he received the Most Valuable Player Award as a conductor and proponent of new music. Austin graduated from the Eastman School of Music in 2021 with an M.M. in Orchestral Conducting, in the studio of Neil Varon. Currently he serves as the Assistant Conductor of the Eastman Philharmonia and Eastman School Symphony Orchestra as he pursues his DMA in orchestral conducting.