By Dawn Brand Fluhler—
MUNCIE, IN – 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.
For more information, visit orchestraindiana.org.
