In just a few weeks, the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra will bring festive cheer to a decked-out Mount Pisgah Church. Returning with its annual Christmas concerts, this year’s holiday performances — part of the orchestra’s IMAGINE: Your Playlist series — will pay special homage to JCSO founder and former Music Director J. Wayne Baughman.
IMAGINE: From Our Family to Yours
“It’s going to have a lot to do with Wayne’s legacy and what he loved about the community. But it’s also about where we’re going forward,” said JCSO Music Director Henry Cheng.
The orchestra is also set to play “Farandole” by French composer Bizet — one of Baughman’s favorite songs celebrating the themes of family and coming together to overcome challenges.
Cheng’s vision for this year’s event veers away from the traditional black-tie formality, instead embracing a relaxed celebration of the holidays. One way he hopes to create this atmosphere is through encouraging participation in a sing-along.
This year marks the first Christmas Voices of Johns Creek community sing-along, an open call for the community to sing Christmas carols along with the Johns Creek Chorale. Volunteers would need to attend a rehearsal beforehand and can attend both concerts for free.
“[The concert] should be a place where people can come and have fun. My dream is that the whole audience just sings together,” Cheng said.
During the show, audiences can expect guest appearances from Santa and his Elves, dancers and a drum line. And the orchestra will perform beloved Christmas classics, medleys of songs and tunes from the Nutcracker, in collaboration with Fleetwood Dance Theatre Company.
“It’s a very low-key, fun, family–friendly time. It’s going to be a big party,” Cheng said.
IMAGINE: Kids’ Christmas Concert
Now in its 19th season, the Kids’ Concert has been a staple of the orchestra’s programming since its inception. This year, designed to be a sensory-friendly experience, it welcomes children with special needs or sensitivities to light and sound. The orchestra will perform popular holiday songs from across world cultures.
“We just want it to be an opportunity for the kids to dance,” Development and Marketing Coordinator Rachel Loyd said. “We wanted to make something that was a little different from your typical traditional orchestra experience where you just sit and then clap.”
The performance will be interactive through sing-alongs and appearances by special guests like Santa Claus.
IMAGINE: Kids’ Christmas Concert will take place at Mount Pisgah Church on December 20, at 2 p.m. and IMAGINE: From Our Family to Yours, takes place later that night, at 7:30 p.m.
A new director
The Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra was founded as a non-profit performing arts organization by J. Wayne Baughman in 2007, whose music career in Atlanta spanned over 35 years. Baughman, who worked with both the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and as a music professional in the Johns Creek community, envisioned creating a traditional symphony orchestra for the city. Within two years, the ensemble was established, bringing together a group of highly trained, professional symphonic musicians.
Over the past two decades, the JCSO has collaborated with choral ensembles, hosted soloists and performed virtually during the COVID pandemic. The orchestra is supported through a combination of individual contributions, corporate donations and ticket sales.
In November 2023, Baughman passed away. In 2024, the JCSO began their search for a new music director.
Their 2024-2025 season, “Three Maestros, One Podium,” consisted of concerts by the three finalists, chosen from a pool of 107 worldwide. Each finalist conducted two performances, after which audience members voted their pick; the final selection was made based on input from the musicians, audience and the board. In May 2025, Maestro Henry was appointed JCSO’s new music director.
Born in Taiwan, Cheng immigrated to the United States as a child, spending his early years in Georgia, before studying in New York, Indiana and Berlin. He worked professionally in Berlin for a decade, including as the chief conductor of the Klangkraft Orchestra in Duisburg. He has directed performances in Europe, Asia and North America, including the La Scala Chamber Orchestra and the Tongyeong International Music Festival Ensemble. Recently, he spent three years in Korea before returning to Georgia.
“I’ve been blown away by how the community has been so incredibly open and warm and willing to welcome in not just me, but my family too,” Cheng said.
Cross cultural artistic perspective
Cheng’s cross-cultural experiences are tied to his work, shaping an artistic perspective that consistently embraces interdisciplinary approaches. He often blends classical and contemporary elements, collaborating with artists across fields to integrate visual storytelling, movement and sound.
Cheng emphasized that his ideas were not just welcomed but received with ease and an openness to experiment with new kinds of repertoire.
Not long into his new role, Cheng led the orchestra in their first international tour. In October, the ensemble performed in Hanoi, Vietnam, as the sole U.S. representative at an event that celebrated 30 years of US-Vietnam diplomatic relations. Cheng believes that the orchestra was selected due to their shared dedication to service.
“Part of the reason the orchestra got that was because of our renewed hyper-focus on serving our immediate communities, and how that embodies the idealisms of America on an international scale,” Cheng said.
A focus on outreach and community engagement
According to the organization’s website, the desire to serve the community, through outreach and educational programs has been built into the JSCO. Cheng hopes to expand the existing programs and introduce new initiatives.
For instance, their Meet the Orchestra program typically brings musicians into an elementary school classroom to teach students about the various musical components. This November, it expanded its reach — inviting students from Fulton County schools to gather at Mount Pisgah Church for an engagement with the orchestra. Eight schools attended.
“The kids were excited, they were engaged, their hands kept going up. They were yelling out all the answers,” Loyd said.
Musicians introduced each instrument with 15-second snippets from familiar tunes like “Mario Kart” and “Sesame Street.”
“Seeing this was just a fulfillment of many, many years of working with their state representative just in order to get all of the students bussed into one place,” Loyd said.
The Meet the Maestro initiative partners with small businesses to host conversations with Cheng. These events take place the day before each concert and are free and open to the public. The first event, in September, was hosted at Antique Caffe, a local coffee and antique shop. The two-fold aim, Loyd said, is to engage with the community and support local businesses.
Collaborations and educational initiatives
Through the pilot year of their educational program, Future Sounds EDU, the orchestra plans to visit ten high school orchestras and bands to offer lessons, conduct pieces, lead sectionals or discuss music with students. According to Cheng, the main goal is to support these programs through a collaborative approach.
“We’re there to help alleviate certain pain points in their projects and in their schools,” Cheng explained.
One project, K-POP EDU, will expand on Cheng’s work with BTS in Korea, where he arranged works of BTS and Beethoven together: “Dynamite” and Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 5.”
Cheng found that both pieces shared a theme: “Dynamite” was written at the height of COVID, “offering the hope of light in the darkest of times,” and Beethoven’s Fifth was written during one of the darkest periods in the composer’s life as he struggled with physical ailments.
Another educational program explores technology, music and Minecraft, building on Cheng’s project Minecraft x In C, originally created in collaboration with a museum in South Korea. That project featured musicians from the Tongyeong International Music Festival and a YouTube creator, who together built a music box inside the game Minecraft that played the piece “In C” by composer Terry Riley. Now, the project is being expanded into a music education initiative, including workshops on coding principles and music history.
As part of a new initiative this year, all students with a valid ID are invited to attend JCSO concerts for free.
“The mission is to really be a part of every day of your life. We will be in your parks, we will be in your schools, we’ll be there on the weekends and we’ll be there to support your kids afterwards as well,” Cheng said, “because that’s what a 21st century regional professional orchestra should be doing.”
Plans for next year
When Henry Cheng stepped into his position as conductor, he came prepared with a five-season plan. He intends for each season to be interconnected, with a single narrative arc spanning them.
“We’re encouraging people to come and see every show. Don’t miss one, because we’re telling a story, and we don’t want you to miss one chapter,” Loyd added.
The 2025-26 season, titled IMAGINE: Your Playlist, is a title that invites the community to consider what they can be together.
“For me, music is the best medium to tell a story, where you can give the audience space to feel it however they need to and want to,” Cheng said. “It’s a service.”
For more information about the orchestra and upcoming shows, visit johnscreeksymphony.org.
