Stambaugh acquires Youngstown Orchestra, signs contract with musicians
Stambaugh has been working for the last six months to work out a deal to bring the symphony back to its original home
Strike up the band is the word at Stambaugh Auditorium, after the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra (YSO) was acquired by the Henry H. Stambaugh Auditorium Association, better known as Stambaugh Auditorium in Youngstown.
“The Henry H. Stambaugh Auditorium Association Board of Directors is excited and honored to continue the institution of the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra,” said Michael Crist, president of the Stambaugh Auditorium board, in a statement. “In its nearly 100 years of making music in Youngstown, the YSO serves as a cultural bedrock of the Mahoning Valley.”
The move was one of three separate agreements announced at a news conference Tuesday morning at the DeYor Performing Arts Center, between Stambaugh, DeYor and JAC Management Group. Stambaugh also said in a press release it had agreed to extend the symphony musicians’ union contract, which had expired August 31, for an additional two years.
Matt Pagac, CEO of Stambaugh Auditorium, said the various agreements are “about playing to everyone’s strengths.”
“JAC’s strengths are facility operations, attracting national talent, those sorts of things,” Pagac said at the event. “Stambaugh Auditorium, over the last decade or so, has really grown into kind of the arts and culture center, in a way, of trying to get everyone to come together and work together and use these facilities to the facilities’ strengths.”
A shortened 2025-2026 YSO season is currently being planned, and is scheduled to open with a holiday “pops” concert December 22 in the Stambaugh Auditorium Concert Hall. The YSO will also perform at the Ballet Western Reserve’s production of The Nutcracker on December 6 and 7 at the DeYor Performing Arts Center.
Stambaugh hired Erik Ochsner, who has guest conducted for the symphony nine times before, to serve as full-time music director.
“It feels like a new chapter is starting,” Ochsner said in an interview. “I love working with the orchestra, they’re people who really want to play. We’re developing audiences, we’re developing, we’re expanding. Now we have our new home in Stambaugh Auditorium, so we have lots of plans for the future.”
The orchestra will perform at Stambaugh Auditorium for the 2025-2026 season, and the following year it will present concerts at both DeYor and Stambaugh. It will be able to continue performing at DeYor free of charge, after reaching an agreement with JAC Management Group, which is assuming full management and operations at the venue.
That means JAC will handle event scheduling and bookings, ticketing services, food and beverage operations and ongoing maintenance. According to Dave Kosec, chair of the DeYor board of directors, his board will remain in charge of capital improvements.
JAC manages several other venues across the Mahoning Valley, including the Covelli Center, the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheater, Wean Park and the Packard Music Hall. Just this weekend, thousands of people came to Wean Park to see Tim McGraw and John Mayer at JAC’s Y-Live festival.
“We have seven major venues in our community, which is a lot for a community our size,” said Eric Ryan, president and CEO of JAC. “We needed to collaborate … to make all the venues flourish.”
At the news conference, Youngstown Mayor Tito Brown said he is grateful for the fine arts community’s continued presence in the city’s downtown area, noting the economic impact of events such as Y-Live.
“When everyone said, ‘I want to leave downtown Youngstown’ and the arts stayed downtown, I want to thank you for that, because now look where we are,” Brown said.
Guy Coviello, president and CEO of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, also celebrated the news.
“Arts and culture are powerful economic drivers that make our region more attractive for both talent and investment,” Coviello said in a statement. “These announcements build on that strength by fostering a cultural scene that provides the quality of life advantages setting the Mahoning Valley apart and strengthening our path to long-term prosperity.”