Lullaby Project CELEBRATION CONCERT
June 3, 2024 | 6:30 pm
Bradley Symphony Center
ABOUT THE MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, led by Music Director Ken-David Masur, is among the finest orchestras in the nation and the largest cultural institution in Wisconsin. Since its inception in 1959, the MSO has found innovative ways to give music a home in the region, develop music appreciation and talent among area youth, and raise the national reputation of Milwaukee.
The MSO’s full-time professional musicians perform over 135 classics, pops, family, education, and community concerts each season in venues throughout the state. A pioneer among American orchestras, the MSO has performed world and American premieres of works by John Adams, Roberto Sierra, Philip Glass, Geoffrey Gordon, Marc Neikrug, Matthias Pintscher, and Dobrinka Tabakova, as well as garnered national recognition as the first American orchestra to offer live recordings on iTunes. Now in its 53rd season, the orchestra’s nationally syndicated radio broadcast series, the longest consecutive-running series of any U.S. orchestra, is heard annually by more than two million listeners on 147 subscriber stations in 38 of the top 100 markets.
The MSO’s standard of excellence extends beyond the concert hall and into the community, reaching more than 30,000 children and their families through its Arts in Community Education (ACE) program, Youth and Teen concerts, Family Series, and Meet the Music pre-concert talks. Celebrating its 34th year, the nationally-recognized ACE program integrates arts education across all subjects and disciplines, providing opportunities for students when budget cuts may eliminate arts programming. The program provides lesson plans and supporting materials, classroom visits from MSO musician ensembles and artists from local organizations, and an MSO concert tailored to each grade level. This season, more than 5,900 students and 500 teachers and faculty are expected to participate in ACE both in person and in a virtual format.
ABOUT THE LULLABY PROJECT
The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra is pleased to be one of over 30 organizations across the country and the world to be a Lullaby Project partner, a program of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute. Pregnant women, parents, and grandparents work with professional teaching artists to write personal lullabies for their children, supporting maternal health, aiding child development, and strengthening the bond between parent and child. The lullabies are then professionally arranged, recorded, and finally shared in a public performance featuring professional musicians and the mothers themselves. The MSO is delighted to partner with Sojourner Family Peace Center to bring this program to Milwaukee.
ABOUT SOJOURNER
The mission of Sojourner is to transform lives impacted by domestic violence. Sojourner is the largest non-profit provider of domestic violence prevention and intervention services in Wisconsin, providing crisis housing, system advocacy and individual support to survivors and families who are hurting. Each year, Sojourner serves just under 8,000 individuals. Advocates provide an array of support aimed at helping families affected by domestic violence find a pathway out of violence through opportunities to make positive and lasting changes for themselves and their children.
Sojourner and Children’s Wisconsin formed a unique partnership to create one of the first co-located child advocacy and family violence centers in the country. Using a proven collaborative model, the Family Peace Center offers a number of co-located and visiting partner organizations and service providers, including the Milwaukee Police Department Sensitive Crimes Unit, Milwaukee Public Schools, the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office, Jewish Family Services, Advocate Aurora Health, Legal Action of Wisconsin, Goodwill, African American Breastfeeding Network, and others. Families receiving help at the Family Peace Center have access to a wide variety of services to support their efforts to achieve healing, self-sufficiency, and freedom from abuse.
For more information or to access services, visit familypeacecenter.org or reach out to Sojourner’s 24-Hour Domestic Violence Hotline (414) 933-2722 or Textline (414) 877-8100.
The Program
We All Need Love
By Elizabeth and The Carsky Family with Meaghan Heinrich
Our Family Voice
By Eileen with Beth Giacobassi
My Six Lullabies
A Ballad for Maria’s Four
By Maria with Beth Giacobassi
Eye of My Storm
By Tiffany with Kai Simone
By Nakita with Derek and Amelia Jordan-Ouverson
We All Need Love
Elizabeth and The Carsky Family with Meaghan Heinrich
chorus
We all need love to grow and bloom
We all need love
To keep us together
We are one in the spirit of love
We all need love
We need each other
Rising up our down-turned faces
Hand of mercy, many graces
Reaching us in lowly places
We don’t deserve God’s great love
Forgiving us, but...
chorus
Wandering through deserted night
Clinging to our hopes of light
God is strength within our fight
We won’t give up, always loved
Seeds waiting for...
chorus
Roaring waves of raging foam
Our minds are calmed by God’s Shalom
Hearts peaceful now as our feet roam
We rest secure in tranquil love,
Knowing peace and that...
chorus
Firm upon the rock we stand
Treading paths not made by man
Through trials in our war-torn land
We see in faith that Your love
Is the way since...
chorus
Dancing wild, bare feet grounded
Firm upon the truth, we’ve found it
Free indeed and so astounded!
We sing praises in pure love
For eternity saved...
chorus
So, we walk on [So we walk on]
Into the light [Into the light]
Trusting we know [Trusting we know]
Home is love
chorus
Our Family Voice
By Eileen with Beth Giacobassi
chorus
Be happy, stay healthy, experience joy
Be kind to others, every girl and boy
We’re a family, look out for each other, Lucy and Jack, a sister and a brother
Lucy likes to sing, dances all in pink, Peppy personality
In life be brave and strong
Take some good risks too
We’ll be always there for you
We love our animals, Brodie and Darwin, They like to be the center of attention
A gentle dog, an independent cat
They add good chaos wherever we are at!
Jack sings and swims, talented in art, Compassionate, such a good heart, Follow your dreams
Wherever you may go, You’re so caring always, let it show
chorus
Kayla’s quiet, soul, Artistic we all know, Apparent in the home she keeps A mentor and a mom, With dogs and kids, she’s calm, To our family she brings love and peace
We love our animals, Brodie and Darwin,
They like to be the center of attention
A gentle dog, an independent cat
They add good chaos wherever we are at!
Kenny’s not shy
He’s the pizza guy, Brings laughter wherever he goes
A hands-on kind of Dad,
He gives it all he has, His family keeps him on his toes
chorus
Auntie Manda, dynamo
Yoga poses make her whole Loves Puerto-Rican rice in a bowl
With Lucy and Jack, They dance the nights away, Her love for them is here to stay
Lucy and Jack
Kayla and Kenny
Amanda
Brodie and Darwin
We’re one big family, Together we will see each other through life’s journey
My Six Lullabies
By Nakita with Amelia and Derek Jordan-Ouverson
I. Cameron
II. Paris
III. Noah
IV. Bishop
V. Naio
VI. Andreas
A Ballad for Maria’s Four
By Maria with Beth Giacobassi
chorus
Major, Mara, Montez, and Kayvi,
I love you with everything inside of me
You’re gifts from heaven so special and pure,
I know that each of you will change the world
Major Luxe, our little rockstar,
I love it when you play guitar,
A comedian at heart, so many jokes up your sleeve,
Your laughs and wits, you’re as funny as can be
You’re the king of the stage,
You deserve the spotlight
Don’t ever stop, your future’s so bright
All that style, little charming man
Never forget, I’m your biggest fan
chorus
With a twirl and a giggle Mara steals the show,
Her laughter like magic, her radiant glow
She dances through life, with twinkles in her eyes,
From giggles to tantrums, she’s larger than life
I look at her and see the world is hers
It’s all captured in her smile
Mara Boo Boo our precious gift,
You’re everything our lives have missed,
That confidence you show, your strength and might,
So full of fearless light
chorus
In a world full of Chaos, Montez finds his way
Always having something to say,
With every Lego brick, every sketch he draws
He’ll always root for the underdog
A master of creation, a heart of gold
With his hands his dreams unfold
In every creation his spirit shines, That fiery boy of mine
chorus
Kayvi my first love, my pride and joy,
Growing into a man, my boy,
With every dream you chase, every goal you pursue,
Know I’ll always be here cheering for you
Follow your passions, embrace who you are,
Know that you’re loved no matter where you are
So, as you grow into the man you’re meant to be, seize every moment, be all that you can be
I’ll be here to guide you, to hold your hand,
While my baby becomes a man
Major, Mara, Montez, and Kayvi
Major, Mara, Montez, and Kayvi
Eye of My Storm
By Tiffany with Kai Simone
Chapter One: Kennedy is the beginning of the story
Grown up time by the time she could walk
Love unconditionally
She was a cowgirl at heart
She kind of taught me how to be a mom
She was such a serious one
But could always brighten my day
chorus
This is how my life changed four times over
Never be the same three girls and my baby boy
In my darkest hour, you gave me joy
And who knew on the day you were born,
You’d be the eye of my storm
And who knew on the day you were born,
You’d be the eye of my storm
The eye of my storm
Chapter Two: Kora’s view as the story continues
Her hair, blonde like the sun
Oo-wee she could run
With a big smile and brown eyes,
Her energy like the sun in the sky
She could test me, but it brought out the best in me
And I must confess, even stress
chorus
Chapter Three: Kloe, as I continue the story
A story keeper of tales not yet told
You’re worth more than silver and gold
I waited for you for so long
And you’re right where you belong
You came down from heaven out of turn
In my life a special place you have earned
chorus
Chapter Four is Flash,
The only boy was last and what surprise
My mini-me was a guy (that’s right it was a guy)
Named self at the age of two, Don’t agree with him? I feel sorry for you
And I hope you grow up to be a good man
You gave us balance to help us understand
Give ‘em a hand
chorus
Lullaby Project Participants, Performers, and Staff
Project Staff
Rebecca Whitney Director of Education, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
Nathan Hickox-Young Concerts for Schools and Education Manager, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
Jeremy Tusz Audio & Video Producer, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
Nayna Alam Healing Program Coordinator, Sojourner
Marleisa Quiles Supervisor of Healing Services, Sojourner
Performing Artists
John Babbitt, upright bass
Susan Babini, cello*
Robyn Black, tuba*
Georgi Dimitrov, viola*
Teresa Drews, piano
Madison Freed, clarinet *
Meaghan Heinrich, ukulele & vocals
Leah Peavler, vocals
Shinae Ra, cello*
Chris Riggs, percussion*
Samantha Rodriguez, viola*
Kai Simone, vocals
Vidar Skrede, guitar
Jennifer Startt, violin*
Heather Zinninger, flute *
Adrien Zitoun, cello*
Lullaby Songwriter Participants
* Member of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
