Syracuse Orchestra begins 2025-26 season, seeks new music director

(WSYR-TV) — The Syracuse Orchestra opens its season tomorrow, and this time around, they are doing something new.

In their season-opening concert at Most Holy Rosary Church, they will be accompanied by an organist. Jon Garland, acting principal horn, director of operations and board member, along with conductor Ho-Yin Kwok, joined us this morning now for details.

The upcoming season will featuring 30 concerts across five local venues with guest conductors, soloists and the chance to experience the finalists for the music director position.

The community will meet the six extraordinary finalists for the position of the Syracuse Orchestra music director. Each candidate will conduct during the season, starting Sept. 27 with finalist Austin Chanu, at The Syracuse Orchestra’s Rapid Response Monitoring Casual series at St. Paul’s. The audience will provide feedback after each performance to help choose the new music director.

Before the community can experience the work of the music director finalists, they can enjoy the season opener featuring organ prodigy Dominic Fiacco. The orchestra will present Poulenc’s Organ Concerto and the powerful Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3 (Organ Symphony).

The concert is tomorrow, Sept. 19 at Most Holy Rosary Church beginning at 7:30 p.m.

For tickets and more information, visit SyracuseOrchestra.org. Tickets are just $5 for students with ID, and admission is free for children under 18 when accompanied by an adult.

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSYR.