The South Bend Symphony: succession and the present state

1972 — today

Five decades, five directors: After Hames, the succession runs: Seymour Rubenstein for one complete season; Herbert Butler, who held the post until his death in 1983; and, alongside the main line, the Midwest Pops, which merged into the Symphony in 1980, with Newton Wayland conducting the Pops concerts until 1991. Kenneth Kiesler became music director in 1985, and a gift from Dr. Corey B. McFarland raised player salaries and established a core of salaried players — the chamber series that gift founded continues as the June H. Edwards Mosaic Series. Tsung Yeh was appointed in 1988 and served twenty-eight years, the orchestra's second long tenure; the institution notes that he was the first conductor ever to serve simultaneously as music director of a Western symphony and a Chinese symphony. Yeh retired in 2016.

His successor, Alastair Willis, was named after an audition concert on October 8, 2016, announced in May 2017 over four other finalists, and made his debut as music director on September 23, 2017. Willis, a Grammy-nominated conductor, received a five-year contract extension in June 2020 and a second five-year extension in August 2024, carrying his tenure through the 2029–30 season; the Tribune recorded him beginning his tenth season in September 2026, and he now makes his home in South Bend. The orchestra's homes in the present record are the Morris Performing Arts Center downtown and Notre Dame's DeBartolo Performing Arts Center; its earlier homes before the Morris era were not established and are not asserted. Its present state, verified current: three concert series; fifty free chamber performances in the community; live symphonic music reaching over 10,000 students a year; and, in November 2023, advancement from Group 5 to Group 4 in the League of American Orchestras' budget grouping, on operating expenses above $2,150,000. The guest list across its history, by its own account, runs from Grainger, Cliburn, Rubinstein, and Gould through Michael Rabin, Leontyne Price, and Marian Anderson to Yuja Wang, Hilary Hahn, and Yo-Yo Ma, who returned in May 2023.

Sources:

1. South Bend Symphony Orchestra, published history (southbendsymphony.org, "About"), read first-hand — the Rubenstein season; Butler to 1983; the Midwest Pops merger of 1980 and Newton Wayland; Kiesler 1985 and the McFarland gift and core players; Yeh's 1988 appointment, 28-year tenure, and dual-director distinction; the Morris and DeBartolo homes; the guest-artist line.
2. South Bend Tribune — Alastair Willis's appointment process and September 23, 2017 debut; the June 2020 extension; the August 2024 second extension through 2029–30; Willis beginning his tenth season (September 2026) and resident in South Bend.
3. South Bend Symphony Orchestra release (November 2023) — the Group 5 to Group 4 advancement in the League of American Orchestras grouping, operating expenses above $2,150,000; the three series, 50 free chamber performances, and 10,000 students annually as the institution states them.