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Dear Friends, Supporters, and Music Lovers,

What an incredible journey we’re about to begin together! I’m absolutely thrilled to begin my first season as Music Director of Orchestra Indiana, and to share powerful, moving, and uplifting music with the entire Muncie community and surrounding areas! This is a thrilling time for our symphony. As we look to the future, we’re reimagining what it means to be a regional orchestra in America today. And you’re an essential part of that vision.

There’s nothing quite like the magic of live music. This season, we invite you to join us at a variety of venues as we bring that magic to life, whether through beloved classics or bold new sounds. I truly believe each concert will offer something special: something to move you, to inspire you, and maybe even to bring you to your feet. Here are just a few highlights to look forward to:

• Programs that showcase the rich colors and sounds of the American symphonic tradition
• Two festive holiday concerts led by the dynamic Andrew Lipke, singer, songwriter, and conductor
• A journey into the brilliant music and art of Disney
• A unique Concert Theatre Works program that fuses the visual wonder of a live magician, dancer, and more together with intimate and virtuosic music making
• A grand season finale in a unique and stunning space on the Taylor University campus, partnering with the magnificent Taylor University Chorale

So bring a friend, bring your family, and bring your love of music. This is going to be a season to remember, and we can’t wait to experience it together with you!

With excitement and gratitude,

Yaniv Segal

Orchestra Indiana has announced Yaniv Segal as its new Principal Conductor and Artistic Director. Segal, who has extensive experience as a conductor, violinist, actor, and composer, will begin Artistic Director duties immediately and will conduct most of the concerts next season.

Ranging from performing and singing at the Metropolitan Opera and touring in a Broadway show as a child, to composing multiple major works and conducting orchestras across the United States and world, Segal brings his talent and reimagined vision for what orchestra and the arts can do for a community.

“We were looking for a visionary leader, not just a conductor,” Orchestra Indiana Board President Bill Reece said. “Someone who not only has the technical skills to conduct an orchestra, but an artist that has the vision and ability to transform what the orchestra experience typically is. Someone who will build on our orchestral foundation and help us evolve into a groundbreaking, broad-based arts organization throughout east central Indiana.  Whether it is blending symphony with rap, collaborating with a wide range of creators from mural artists to performance artists, or bringing orchestra back into schools, Yaniv is the ideal person to lead the way.  And, of course, he will continue to build on the core excellence of our classical music performances that the Muncie Symphony and Marion Philharmonic have been delivering for over 75 years.”

Born from the union of the Muncie Symphony and Marion Philharmonic, Orchestra Indiana aims to enrich communities with innovative concert experiences. In 2025, Segal and Orchestra Indiana will feature a concert with a rap artist, performances in city parks throughout the summer in partnership with the City of Muncie, a Labor Day concert, a magician performing with live music, and six mainstage events between October this year and May 2026.

“Regional orchestras are at a crossroads,” Segal said. “Symphonic music and putting on concerts alone isn’t enough of a presence any longer. Orchestras have to take more of a meet-the-people-where-they-are approach now. There’s a real opportunity with Orchestra Indiana to shape what an orchestra and the arts look like. My goal is to conduct inspiring concerts while increasing the visibility of the organization and the arts in general. I have lots of ideas and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can experiment with and bring to the community.”

In 2013, Segal completed graduate degrees in conducting and composition at the University of Michigan with renowned conducting pedagogue Kenneth Kiesler and MacArthur Award winning composer Bright Sheng, and with support from the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans.

Segal, who is a first-generation American who grew up in New York City and currently lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is also Music Director of the Salina Symphony, Conductor of the Macon-Mercer Symphony Orchestra, and Musical Artistic Director and co-creator of American Patriots, a new theatrical song cycle examining patriotism and the current lived American experience from Indigenous, Black, white working class, and New American perspectives.