By Alex Sorrells / The Jambar
The Youngstown Symphony Orchestra announced concert dates following a brief delay due to negotiations between the Youngstown Symphony Society and Henry H. Stambaugh Auditorium Association.
The musicians’ union contract expired Aug. 31, which made it unclear whether there would be performances for the 2025-26 season.
At a press conference Sept. 30, Matt Pagac, CEO and chief operating officer of the Youngstown Symphony, said the first performance will be a holiday concert held Dec. 22 at Stambaugh Auditorium.
“The rest of the season we’ll be announcing soon. We’re working out those details … It’ll be a four-concert season, so there are three more concerts we’ll be announcing,” Pagac said.
Pagac also announced new music director Erik Ochsner, who substituted as conductor for Maestro Sergey Bogza to conclude the 2024-25 season.
“[Ochsner] got on a plane from New York, picked up the scores and conducted a concert for us. Erik has really been a great team player, and we’re really happy to welcome him to Youngstown,” Pagac said.
The announcement comes from a joint effort and several agreements between DeYor Performing Arts Center, JAC Management Group LLC. and Stambaugh Auditorium.
David Kosec, chair of the DeYor, said its agreement with JAC allows the group to manage the facility while also partnering with Stambaugh Auditorium.
“The Youngstown Symphony Orchestra has now been transferred to the Stambaugh Auditorium and their management,” Kosec said. “The Youngstown Symphony Society organization will be doing business as the DeYor Performing Arts Center, and so we separated the two functions.”
Eric Ryan, CEO of JAC, said the decision was a collaborative effort between JAC, YSO, Stambaugh Auditorium, Covelli Centre, Youngstown Foundation Amphitheater and W.D. Packard Music Hall.
Performing several management functions can be overwhelming for a smaller venue like the DeYor. Ryan said JAC was brought in to lighten the load and work with these facilities to oversee booking, operations and marketing.
“If you have every venue trying to sustain that, it becomes difficult. That’s really where the collaboration and the shared services come in. That’s where the city of Youngstown and the city of Warren were happy to let JAC provide these services to all these facilities,” Ryan said.
Youngstown Mayor Jamael Tito Brown also spoke at the event and recalled his life as a Youngstown native and the impact arts had on him during his formative years in the city.
“If you’re in this room and you said, ‘I remember those times when people didn’t want to come downtown. We left downtown’ — look at us now,” Brown said. “One of those things that we got to continue to make sure that we do better is expose our children to the arts and culture.”
