YOUNGSTOWN, OH (January 16, 2026): The Youngstown Symphony Orchestra (YSO) officially welcomes new Music Director, Erik Ochsner on Sunday, January 25, at 2:30pm at Stambaugh Auditorium with Fantastique! Join the YSO and Maestro Ochsner as the audience experiences the thrilling symphonic journey of music that has shaped Ochsner’s love of music and his career as a conductor. 

The afternoon’s musical experience begins with Richard Wagner’s Götterdämmerung: Siegfried’s Death – Funeral March, better known as “Twilight of the Gods,” the thunderous conclusion to Wagner’s infamous The Ring of Nibelung cycle. Originally created in 1848 as a poem titled Siegfried’s Tod (“Siegfried’s Death”), Wagner spent the next 26 years expanding the project until he had his finished masterpiece: a legendary, 15-hour (don’t worry, the YSO is only playing a nine minute section), four-opera cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). 

In tribute to Ochsner’s materinal Finnish heritage, the afternoon continues with Jean Sibelius’s picturesque tone poem, Night Ride and Sunrise. Then, in honor of Maestro Ochsner’s extensive film-with-live-orchestra repertoire, the YSO will pay homage to cinema-composing powerhouse John Williams with nostalgic performances of the timeless Olympic Fanfare and the unmistakeable melody of Adventures On Earth from E.T. (The Extra-Terrestrial).

The concert culminates with Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, the first symphony to tell a detailed, continuous story that became widely regarded as the pioneer of programmatic music, forever changing the landscape of orchestral music. The fifth movement will feature two bells played from the lobby. One of the two bells is from an 1894 school that was on Market Street in Youngstown. The bells will be on display in the lobby including more of the history of the 1894 school bell. 

Join us as we welcome Maestro Ochsner to Youngstown with an afternoon of music experiences that span Maestro’s musical expertise. 

Tickets are available at youngstownsymphony.com, in person at the YourArts Box Office from 10am to 5pm Monday through Friday at 260 West Federal Street, Youngstown, Ohio 44503, by phone at 330-259-0555, or at the door on the afternoon of Sunday, January 25 at Stambaugh Auditorium.