A Symphonic Movement: YSO Gets New Owner, Conductor; JAC Takes Over DeYor
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Two announcements made Tuesday will bring large changes to the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra and the building that has long been its home.
As it prepares to enter its 100th season, the YSO is now under the ownership and operation of Stambaugh Auditorium.
The Youngstown Symphony Society, which formerly owned it, transferred ownership to Stambaugh, which has been operating the orchestra under a contract agreement for the past five years. The changing of hands was a transfer and not a sale.
The symphony society is now known as the DeYor Performing Arts Society and still owns the two downtown buildings that include Powers Auditorium, Ford Family Recital Hall and Eleanor Beecher Flad Pavilion, said chairman David Kosec.
As part of the massive shakeup announced at a press conference at Powers, the DeYor center has announced that JAC Management will take over the daily operation and booking of the two concert halls under a 10-year agreement.
JAC Management is based in Youngstown, where it operates Covelli Centre, Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre and Wean Park, and also Packard Music Hall in Warren. The company, owned by Eric Ryan, also handles concert promotions at the local facilities and at others across the country.
Covelli, the Amp and Wean Park are owned by the city of Youngstown, and Packard is owned by the city of Warren.
Ryan said his organization will look at the special and historic nature of Powers and Ford Family Recital Hall in finding performers. He cited comedy shows and live theater as possibilities, noting that Powers has equipment rigging over its stage.
Powers holds 2,303 people, and Ford holds 600.
The orchestra also announced that it has hired a new music director and conductor. Erik Ochsner of New York, who led the YSO about nine times over the past few years, has taken over the post. Ochsner became especially well known for his live performances of the music that accompanied screenings of popular movies such as “Ghostbusters.”
The first concert of the 2025-26 season will be a holiday show Dec. 22. Three more concerts – two masterworks and another pops – will take place in the first five months of 2026.
The YSO has been without a leader since 2020 when its previous director, Randall Craig Fleisher, died. It operated with guest conductors since then, briefly hiring a new leader last season who quit before the season began.
Ochsner originally came to Youngstown as part of a package deal to perform “Ghostbusters.” His skill was immediately apparent, and he was brought back on his own to perform classical concerts.
He has since gotten to know many members of the YSO. “I love this orchestra,” he said, noting that many of its members come from beyond the area and bring great energy.
Having Stambaugh take it over likely will not be noticed by the public, Ochsner said, because they’ve been running it for five years now.
Upcoming Season
Because of the delay, the current YSO season is starting later than usual and will have only four concerts. Normally it has five or six.
Ochsner and Matt Pagac, chief executive and operating officer of the YSO, will immediately begin discussing the remaining concerts this year.
The YSO presented its first public concert in 1929 and soon after started holding concerts at Stambaugh Auditorium. It moved to Powers Auditorium in 1969 and had all concerts there until it began to split its shows between Powers and Stambaugh in the 2021-22 season, when Stambaugh took over.
Shows in the current year will take place in Stambaugh, but both buildings will be used starting with the 2026-27 season.
“Stambaugh was an original home of the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra,” Pagac said. The orchestra’s first concert was not in the building, but it moved to it shortly thereafter.
Stambaugh also handles some operational details for other nonprofit arts organizations in the city that use its buildings, including Stambaugh Youth Concert Band and Opera Western Reserve. The company also handles management of the Youngstown Playhouse.
Pagac and his team will start talking about ways to increase income and make changes that symphony-goers want.
The future season ticket model is one of those things.
“It used to be that we had 1,500 or 1,000 season ticket holders,” Pagac said. “That doesn’t exist for anyone anymore. But there are other ways that are working for some, and we have to improve things for our consistent attendees.”
With the exception of the few major orchestras of the world, most orchestras have their share of problems, Pagac noted. “Ochsner has lots of really great ideas and will bring that depth to us – not just from the podium but to what we can do in the community,” he said.
“When you get [people] here, they love it,” he said. “You’ve just got to get them here. We want you here, and it’s OK if you’re not in a suit and tie. Whatever makes you comfortable.”
Saying Thanks
Michael Crist, president of the Stambaugh board, thanked the community for its patience and understanding in making the changes.
“In its nearly 100 years of making music in Youngstown, the YSO serves as a cultural bedrock of the Mahoning Valley,” Crist said.
Kosec, of the DeYor PAC, said Stambaugh and JAC are both great choices to keep the Valley’s arts organizations going.
“[Stambaugh] has the management and fundraising and expertise to run it,” Kosec said of Stambaugh. “Running an orchestra takes expertise, from the positions, to contracts to the scores and everything else that goes with it. Our symphony society had two missions – running DeYor and running the orchestra, and we couldn’t handle both challenges, and neither was succeeding.”
He feels that Stambaugh and JAC are the obvious choices to run both operations.
Mayor Jamael Tito Brown expressed his pride in the city’s above-average arts scene, noting that after many people and businesses departed, “it was the arts who stayed downtown.”
Guy Coviello, president and CEO of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, praised the transfer of the YSO and the hiring of JAC to handle booking and operation at the DeYor.
The area needs to add 20,000 people by the year 2035 to fill its job demands, and the arts is a major attraction for newcomers, he said.
“Some young people are moving first, and then looking for a job later,” Coviello said. For that reason, it’s important that the city has first-rate arts and entertainment.
Coviello also thanked the Youngstown Foundation and other arts organizations, calling them ingredients for economic prosperity.
JAC Management
Ryan, of JAC, pointed out that very few cities with the population and societal demarcations of Youngstown-Warren have this many arts outlets.
Adding the DeYor to the buildings his company operates will create a synergy among the city’s major venues. “The addition of DeYor will strengthen our long-standing relationships within the industry and, therefore, continue to yield premier entertainment in downtown Youngstown,” he said.
JAC will continue to let Stambaugh oversee local arts programming at the DeYor. The opera, the Playhouse and other local arts groups occasionally perform there.
Ryan’s goal in finding artists to play at DeYor is to find “shows that want to play a historic theater like this one, and there’s certainly a lot of them.”
Artists such as Bob Dylan, R&B acts, comedians and Broadway touring shows are already on the list.
“Our success has been because of the events that we promote, how we run and manage our facilities,” Ryan said. “Once people get there and see that we are managing this building, the shows will come.”
The smaller Ford Family Recital Hall is a good site for smaller comedy shows and lectures, while the Flad Pavilion is an ideal spot for conferences.
The Flad and Ford Family were originally built with Youngstown State University in mind, the DeYor’s Kosec said. The university originally paid to use the facility for its theater and arts departments, but that ended.
The new building, which is connected to Powers, opened in 2006. The ornate Powers opened in 1931.
Kosec and Ryan have talked about reintroducing the Warner Bros. name to Powers events, as the structure was originally built by the Youngstown family as a movie theater before they moved to Hollywood.
Ryan started his company in 2005, booking small concerts at a club in Struthers. Since then, his company has grown many times over.
Taking over the DeYor is a “humbling” experience, he said.
“We started having these talks in the last six months to ensure that this place is around in perpetuity,” he said. “It was having struggles, and for us it’s an awesome responsibility and we’re super proud of it.”
Pictured at top: Eric Ryan, president and CEO of JAC Management.