Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
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The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an orchestra based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, considered to be one of the top twenty orchestras in the United States. The symphony performs at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. Under current music director Andreas Delfs, the MSO presents more than 150 Classics, Classical Connections, Pops, and family concerts annually for more than 200,000 people during a season that starts in early September and continues through the end of June. Doc Severinsen, former Tonight Show bandleader, is the MSO's principal Pops conductor.
The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra serves as the orchestra for Florentine Opera productions. The MSO also serves as the state orchestra through an extensive Wisconsin Tour program. Outside Wisconsin, the Orchestra has made 13 appearances at Carnegie Hall and toured Cuba, Japan, Europe, and the Dominican Republic.
The MSO has presented more than 100 world and American premieres of works by composers such as Philip Glass, Daniel Schnyder, Roberto Sierra, Gunther Schuller, William Schuman, Lukas Foss, Roy Harris, Gian Carlo Menotti, Richard Rodgers, Ottorino Respighi, Jean Sibelius, Erich Korngold and others. Over 22 compositions have been by MSO musicians.
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[edit] Concert series
From September through June, Classics Series concerts are performed Friday through Sunday in Uihlein Hall at the Marcus Center. Delfs conducts a number of the programs, and guest conductors have included Lu Jia and artist-in-residence Nicholas McGegan. The series includes performances of works by Mendelssohn, Stravinsky, Brahms, Dvořák and Beethoven. MSO Commissions include Glass’ Concerto Fantasy for Two Timpanists and Orchestra and Wuorinen’s Symphony Seven. Frequent appearances by the acclaimed Milwaukee Symphony Chorus, under Director Lee Erickson, include Handel’s Messiah and the Britten War Requiem.
Acclaimed Pops concerts also are performed between September and June, taking place Friday through Sunday nights in Uihlein Hall. The Pops series features Principal Pops Conductor Doc Severinsen, and guest stars have included Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Regina Carter, The Chieftains and many others.
In 2004, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra premiered Classical Connections, a series offering a new format to meet the diverse interests of symphony patrons and Milwaukee’s cultural attendees. This new subscription series takes place on Thursday evenings and has a relaxed format, with a host providing informational commentary from the stage; technical effects like videos and supra-titles; pre-concert social activities; and a shorter, 75-minute performance without intermission.
The Kinderkonzert Series, formerly Sunday for Families, introduces children ages 3-10 to classical music. These performances combine themes to which young listeners can easily relate with music, multi-media guest artists, scenery, and animation. A month before each concert, "Learn and Play" materials are mailed to subscribers. These packets offer playful and educational activities for families to do together in preparation for the concert. The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra League sponsors activities before the concert, where children can visit the Musical Instrument Petting Zoo, learn to conduct the beat using brightly colored scarves, and create their own dances.
[edit] Touring
In an era when many major orchestras have curtailed their state touring programs, the MSO remains committed to its role as Wisconsin's state orchestra. For over 37 years, the MSO's State Tour travels to communities throughout Wisconsin, offering many adult and youth audiences unique opportunities to hear live classical music. Among other destinations, the Orchestra has traveled to Fish Creek, Fond du Lac, Marinette, Ripon, Rhinelander, Three Lakes, West Bend, Whitewater, Wisconsin, and Naperville, Illinois.
Through the annual Hometown Holiday Tour, the MSO brings free concerts to Milwaukee area residents. Designed to bring music to those who might not be able to attend a concert in the Marcus Center, the tour has played at hospitals and community centers.
[edit] Education programs
The MSO offers a number of educational opportunities including the Arts in Community Education (ACE) program. ACE is designed to develop and build critical and creative thinking skills in children through an integration of the arts within their daily curriculum. Supporting Wisconsin's Academic Content and Performance Standards, ACE uses the arts to emphasize lessons learned in other academic subjects, including math, science, social studies, and language arts. ACE embraces diverse artistic heritages in the community by collaborating with partner groups comprised of local artists from cultural organizations including the Skylight Opera Theatre, American Indian Center and Milwaukee Ballet.
The MSO also offers concerts for youth and high school students. The MSO's education programs served over 40,000 children from Milwaukee, southeastern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Schools attending youth concerts received free in-school presentations by MSO League docents and MSO musicians to prepare and help them understand the performances. Students attending high school concerts were invited to participate in talk-backs with the conductor, guest artists and MSO musicians. The MSO and MPS continued a partnership that provided Milwaukee Public School students the opportunity to attend MSO youth or high school concerts for substantially reduced ticket prices.
The MSO offers several opportunities for Milwaukee area students to develop their performance abilities. The Private Lesson Scholarship Program provides area music students with financial need the unique opportunity to study one-on-one with professional orchestra players from the MSO for free. Furthermore, young violin students are invited to audition for the annual Bach Double Violin Concerto Competition, the winners of which perform at a spring ACE concert. Gifted Wisconsin high school instrumental musicians who win the MSO's annual Young Artist Competition receive the honor of performing as soloists or as stand partners in an evening concert with the MSO.
[edit] Recordings and broadcasts
In 2004, the MSO released the first modern recording in English of Humperdinck's Hansel und Gretel. It was recorded on the Avie label and was released internationally to rave reviews. In 2002, the MSO released a CD featuring Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet and Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. The Cuba Concerts CD features a live recording made during the MSO's 1999 Cuba Millennium Tour. 1999 also saw the release of an a cappella CD featuring the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus.
The MSO has also released 14 recordings on the Koss Classics and Telarc labels. These include such projects as the complete symphonies of Antonín Dvořák; an all-Kodaly disc; an acclaimed recording of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9; Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique; Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky; and Smetana's Ma Vlast.
Through the WFMT Radio Network, recordings of MSO concerts reach 2.6 million people across the U.S. and are taped for international radio syndication and statewide television broadcast. In 2004, radio programs were syndicated by WFMT to 241 cities across the United States including Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston and Dallas. The Milwaukee flagship affiliate is Classical 106.9 WFMR. MSO performances have been carried to the UK and Europe over the BBC. Also each season, MSO concerts are carried statewide on commercial and public television.
