During its annual donor appreciation reception on May 22, the Sedona Symphony introduced William C. White as the organization’s new artistic director and conductor for its 2025-26 season.

White replaces Janna Hymes, who completed a two-year contract for the Symphony, successfully programming and conducting 10 critically acclaimed and well-attended performances during her tenure. During the major donor appreciation reception, White also announced the dates and themes for the upcoming concert season.

“It is with bittersweet feelings that we say goodbye to Janna and welcome Will,” Symphony Board President Margaret Davis said. “Janna has done an amazing job transforming our orchestra over the past two years, and we will deeply miss her. At the same time, we are thrilled to have Will join us. We believe he will carry our vision forward with creativity and energy.”

“Sedona Symphony stands as a shining example that a great orchestra can thrive in a small community, and it is my honor to begin work as the Symphony’s next artistic director,” White said. “Sedona is a special place and an inspirational setting in which to make music. It’s no secret that the orchestra has blossomed in recent seasons, and that’s reflected in the excitement that’s buzzing through the community.”

William C. White

White is a conductor, composer, teacher and writer equally known for his original music and his bold interpretations. Since 2018, White has served as music director of Harmonia Orchestra and Chorus in Seattle. For four seasons he served as assistant conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. He has led some of the nation’s finest youth orchestra programs, including Portland’s Metropolitan Youth Symphony and the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra. For three seasons, he was music director of Cincinnati’s Seven Hills Sinfonietta.

White also maintains a career as a composer. His music has been performed throughout North America as well as in Asia and Europe.

White received a master’s degree in conducting from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Chicago. He attended the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors, later serving as the school’s conducting associate and then as its composer-in-residence. White hails from Bethesda, Md.

2025-26 Season

Under White’s direction, the Symphony will present the following concerts:

• Sunday, Oct. 19, at the Sedona Performing Arts Center, and Tuesday, Oct. 21, at the Jim and Linda Lee Performing Arts Center in Prescott, presented in partnership with the Yavapai Symphony Association: “The Classics,” with guest pianist Jon Nakamatsu, featuring works by George Frederick Handel, Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Joseph Haydn.
  
• Sunday, Nov. 23: “Mozart and Marimba,” with guest marimbaist Abigail Fischer, featuring works by Nancy Galbraith, Kevin Puts, Nicolai Porpora and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
  
• Sunday, Feb. 1: “The Romantics,” with guest cellist Gabriel Martins and Sedona Symphony concertmaster Sarah Schreffler, featuring works by Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn.
  
• Sunday, March 15: “Discovery,” with emergent artist Jacqueline Rodenbeck as guest violinist, featuring works by Christoph Willibald Gluck, Felix Mendelssohn, C.P.E. Bach and J.S. Bach.
  
• Saturday, April 18: “Pops: American 250 Celebration,” with vocalist Sedona Libero and guest conductor Desmond Siu, featuring works by George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, Scott Joplin, Leonard Bernstein and John Philip Sousa.
  

“I’m ready to hit the ground running in the upcoming season with a slate of concerts that reflects the infinite variety of great music, and I know that there will be something for everyone on each and every one of our programs,” White said. “We’ll be playing the hits and the heavyweights that everyone knows and loves — Beethoven, Mozart, Bach and Handel — but there are going to be plenty of surprises along the way. We’ve got some deep cuts and B-sides, and I have a sneaking suspicion that many of these pieces are going to end up as new favorites. The great cellist Mstislav Rostropovich once said, ‘Every concert must be an event.’ With Sedona Symphony, every concert most definitely will be an event, and an event to remember.”

Ticket Information

The first four classical concerts will be held on Sundays at 3 p.m., while the final pops concert will be held on Saturday at 7 p.m. All Sedona performances will be presented at the Sedona Performing Arts Center at 995 Upper Red Rock Loop Road.

All tickets may be purchased online at sedonasymphony.org.