It’s hard to pin down exactly when Jader Bignamini cemented his bond with Detroit. For the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s music director, appointed in 2020, perhaps it was his emotional performance of Beethoven’s Third with a scaled-down ensemble at an audience-less Orchestra Hall, the finale to a grueling pandemic year. Or possibly it was an evening this spring, when he led a triumphant Beethoven’s Ninth with the full orchestra, a full chorus and a full house.

Or maybe it came last month, courtesy of a jumbotron and a few delirious seconds at Comerica Park. Sporting a Detroit Tigers cap and jersey, visiting the ballpark for his first-ever major-league game, Bignamini was in a suite when the stadium cameras zeroed in.