Erik Ochsner, Music Director

In 2025, Finnish-American conductor Erik Ochsner was officially named the ninth Music Director of the almost 100-year-old Youngstown Symphony Orchestra (“YSO”). Ochsner’s versatility as a conductor has stretched across a broad range of repertoire: from conducting as few as five performers in contemporary and modern works, to leading 300 performers across 20+ full length films using the Live in Concert format. Audiences and critics alike praise Ochsner’s energy, attention to detail and precise synchronization.

With the YSO, he has led a large variety of repertoire: from Cherubini and Beethoven to Berlioz, Mahler, Prokofiev, Respighi, Wagner, and Williams; from a Frank Sinatra concert to a Holiday Pops concert; 3 films so far: Ghostbusters, Home Alone, and Back to the Future, plus he’s introduced YSO audiences to several unknown, or not-often performed, composers: Frederic Delius, Eugene Kapp, Uuono Klami, Alexander Mosolov, Anna Thorwaldsdottir, not to mention a collaboration with the Vindys!

Recent highlights include 2 performances of Lion King (1994) Live in Concert with the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra in Muscat, Oman; 5 projections with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (one was called Walt Disney Animation Studios – A Decade in Concert, where Ochsner conducted, narrated, and made his professional whistling debut); stepping in for a colleague to conduct Star Wars in Concert Episode 4: A New Hope and Ratatouillle in Montreal, Canada, plus his 51st performance of La La Land Live in Concert in Vancouver, Canada.

Upcoming performances: Amadeus in Concert in Kuopio, Finland; Nightmare Before Christmas in Ottawa, Canada; and a private pops concert in Warsaw, Poland for the Annual Conference of Polish Pharmacists.

Working with his friend Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Ochsner commissioned Grandfather Camp: An Orchestral Fantasy, composed by Tom Chapin and John Foster for singing three actors and chamber orchestra: The story is based on Dr. Ruth’s writings about grandparenting. The piece will be workshopped in January 2027!

Ochsner’s long relationship with the Krakow International Film Music Festival has been hugely successful, leading sold-out performances in a 16,000-seat arena of Pixar in Concert, Frozen, Beauty and the Beast, and Lion King (1994) (all performed in Polish), plus Disney in Concert: The Magic of Music with the Krakow Film Festival Youth Concert.

from 2017-2019, Ochsner was Principal Touring Conductor for La La Land Live in Concert, conducting 50 performances across the globe fo Justin Hurwitz’s Academy Award and Grammy Award winning score, often performing with tow of the original recording artsits, pianist Randy Kerber, and trumpeter Wayne Bergeron.

Mary Poppins (1964) (world premiere): Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Opera House; Love Actually: San Francisco Symphony Orchestra; Beauty and the Beast (2017) in Concert: Taipei Symphony Orchestra on 40 hours’ notice; Nanjing Forest Music Festival (China); 18 suites of Hollywood film music; Opera America New Works Showcase (New York City) Music Director, 2017. The Music of Star Wars (world premiere); National Arts Centre Orchestra, Ottawa, Canada; concert featuring the iconic music of John Williams, as well as award-winning video game composers Gordy Haab and Kyle Newmaster.

Additional film projects: Batman (1989), Bugs Bunny at the Symphony, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, Pirates of the Caribbean, Pixar in Concert, Star Trek (2009), Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Wars in Concert: Episodes 4, 5, 6, and 7.

Equally comfortable on the concert stage or leading opera, oratorio, and multi-media performances, he has performed in Adelaide, Athens, Beijing, Budapest, Calgary, Dallas, Dammam, Detroit, Indianapolis, Jakarta, Kitchener-Waterloo, Krakow, Leipzig, Louisiana, Louisville, Melbourne, México City, Montreal, Monterrey, Moscow, Muscat, Nashville, New York, Ottawa, Portland, Reykjavik, Richmond, Rochester, Round Top, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Seoul, Shaghai, Sofia, South Bend, St. Louis, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Sydney, Taipei, Tampere, Thessaloniki, Tokyo, Vancouver, Wellington, Youngstown.

As Founder and Music Director of SONOS Chamber Orchestra, a performance of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring (arranged for 4 pianos and 2 percussionists) was reviewed by the New York Times, “All the hallmarks of a great ‘Rite’ were here.”

During an 8-year collaboration, Ochsner served as Rehearsal Conductor for Academy Award winning composer Tan Dun (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). Highlights include Assistant Conductor and Chorus Master for The First Emperor workshop, a Metropolitan Opera commission, and Cover Conductor with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for the world premiere of The Map, a multimedia cello featuring Yo-Yo Ma, with performances in Boston, Carnegie Hall, and Tanglewood.

The Bulgarian Monitor said, “Sensuality and synchronicity, matched by perfection, accompanied each of the melodies during La La Land: Live in Concert.” Radio Canada wrote, “[Ochsner] was of remarkable precision to the musical direction… the music of the orchestra seemed to emanate from the film. There was no distinction between the screen and the stage.” The Ontario Arts Review has said “Watch this man, he is brilliant.”

Recordings include Brian Wilbur Grundstrom: An Orchestral Journey (CD), and Tea: A Mirror of Soul (DVD).

Ochsner attended The Pierre Monteux School and is a graduate of Dartmouth College. He speaks French, German, and Italian, with some words in Japanese, Chinese, and Finnish. His mentors and teachers included Robert Spano, Charles Bruck, Erich Kunzel, Marin Alsop, and Helmuth Riling. He lives in New York City, loves traveling, wine, and collecting requiem recordings.

Lauren Nicole Chapman

Lauren Nicole Chapman is a New York City-based actor and singer whose career has spanned Broadway, national tours, and acclaimed regional theaters across the country. Best known fo her seven-year journey with Frozen on Broadway and the North American Tour, where she most recently starred as Princess Anna. Her Broadway credits also include the Tony Award Winning musical Kinky Boots, with favorite regional performances including Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, Serena in Legally Blonde, and Corrie Bratter in Barefoot in the Park. Lauren is honored to make her Youngstown Symphony Orchestra debut and is delighted to share this special evening of music.

@laurennicolechapman

Marcus Goldhaber

“One of his generation’s foremost purveyors of the Great American Songbook.” – The JW Vibe

New York-based jazz singer and songwriter Marcus Goldhaber reinvents the Great American Songbook for hte 21st century, infusing the classics with new vitality while writing original songs that are, at once, modern and timeless. Acclaimed by JazzTimes as “wonderfully imaginative” and by Jazziz as “exciting and fresh,” Goldhaber earned four stars from PEOPLE Magazine, which wrote that he “will have you giddy one moment, melancholy the next and loving every note.”

A Hot House Magazine and BroadwayWorld.com nominee for Best Male Vocalist and a MAC Award nominee for Best Song, Goldhaber is widely acknowledged as a standout artist on the jazz and cabaret scene. His signature velvet bari-tenor has been heard at Carnegie Hall, 54 Below, Birdland, Blue Note, Mezzrow, Iridium, The Cutting Room, and Kitano in New York City, as well as Catalina in LA, the Count Bassie Theatre in NJ (with the Joe Muccioli Big Band), the Smith Center in Las Vegas, and the Sellersville Theater in PA, where he opened for Jane Monheit. A graduate of SUNY Fredonia, Marcus is also a regular on the festival circuit and recently played the 2026 Buffalo Jazz festival (with headline, Karin Allison).

He has released six albums on Fallen Apple Records, most recently The Promise of You (Spring 2026), which The Bistro Awards called “a whole new level of musical mastery” and New York City Jazz Record praised his songwriting directly: “[Marcus writes] lyrics that are smart and melodies worthy of songbook status.”

His songs have appeared in the film soundtracks for How We Got Away With It (dir. Jon Lindstrom) and Going Down in La La Land (Embrem), and have been performed and recorded by acclaimed vocalists including Bria Skongberg, Gabrielle Stravelli, Randy Roberts, Melissa Stylianou, Aimee Allen, and Alexis Cole. Marcus’s veteran project, ‘Carry You On’, has been performed at stadiums and concert venues all over the U.S., which the USO calls “the start of a movement!”

Goldhaber’s new classic holiday single “I Can’t Wait for Christmas,” was recently praised by The JW Vibe as “richly nostalgic” while The Skope calls it, “Emotionally grounded and timeless, a tasteful addition to the modern Christmas canon.” His newest single, “You’re Here,” is the first collaboration with his mother, Marylynn, and was released ahead of Mother’s Day 2026.

Marcus is honored to be making his debut this evening with the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra to celebrate the music of Broadway and beyond!

For upcoming tour dates and info, follow @marcusgoldhaber and visit marcusgoldhaber.com

Program Coming Soon!

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