MSO3 : 2024 DECEMBER - FEBRUARY

DECEMBER 2024 — FEBRUARY 2025

ENCORE

Volume 43 No. 3

15 December 14 - 22 — Pops Hometown Holiday Pops

21 December 16 — BSC Presents The King’s Singers

25 January 17 & 18 — Classics McGegan Conducts Haydn

37 January 24 & 25 — Classics Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet

45 January 31 - February 2 — Classics Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons

53 February 8 — Special Heroes: A Video Game Symphony

5 Orchestra Roster

7 Music Director

8 Music Director Laureate

9 Principal Pops Conductor

10 Assistant Conductor

11 Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

58 MSO Endowment/ Musical Legacy Society

59 Annual Fund

62 Gala Sponsors

62 Gala Paddle Raisers/ Corporate & Foundation

63 Matching Gifts/Golden Note Partners/ Marquee Circle/Tributes

66 MSO Board of Directors

67 MSO Administration

This program is produced and published by ENCORE PLAYBILLS. To advertise in any of the following programs:

• Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra

• Florentine Opera

• Milwaukee Ballet

• Marcus Performing Arts Center Broadway Series

• Skylight Music Theatre

• Milwaukee Repertory Theater

• Sharon Lynne Wilson Center

Please contact: Scott Howland at 414-469-7779 scott.encore@att.net

MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 212 West Wisconsin Avenue Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53203 414-291-6010 | mso.org

Connect with us! MSOrchestra MilwSymphOrch @MilwSymphOrch

The MSO and the Bradley Symphony Center have partnered with KultureCity to improve our ability to assist and accommodate guests with sensory needs. For information on available resources, visit mso.org.

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, Camille Pépin, Matthias Pintscher, and Dobrinka Tabakova, as well as garnered national recognition as the first American orchestra to offer live recordings on iTunes.

In January of 2021, the MSO completed a years-long project to restore and renovate a former movie palace in the heart of downtown Milwaukee. The Bradley Symphony Center officially opened to audiences in October 2021. This project has sparked a renewal on West Wisconsin Avenue and continues to be a catalyst in the community.

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 35th 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.

Photo by Jonathan Kirn

2024.25 SEASON

KEN-DAVID MASUR

Music Director

Polly and Bill Van Dyke

Music Director Chair

EDO DE WAART

Music Director Laureate

BYRON STRIPLING

Principal Pops Conductor

Stein Family Foundation Principal Pops

Conductor Chair

RYAN TANI

Assistant Conductor

CHERYL FRAZES HILL

Chorus Director

Margaret Hawkins Chorus Director Chair

TIMOTHY J. BENSON

Assistant Chorus Director

FIRST VIOLINS

Jinwoo Lee, Concertmaster, Charles and Marie Caestecker Concertmaster Chair

Ilana Setapen, First Associate Concertmaster, Thora M. Vervoren First Associate Concertmaster Chair

Jeanyi Kim, Associate Concertmaster

Alexander Ayers

Autumn Chodorowski

Yuka Kadota

Shin Lan**

Elliot Lee**

Dylana Leung

Kyung Ah Oh

Lijia Phang

Yuanhui Fiona Zheng

SECOND VIOLINS

Jennifer Startt, Principal, Andrea and Woodrow Leung Second Violin Chair

Ji-Yeon Lee, Assistant Principal (2nd chair)

John Bian, Assistant Principal (3rd chair)*

Hyewon Kim, Acting Assistant Principal (3rd chair)

Glenn Asch

Lisa Johnson Fuller

Clay Hancock

Paul Hauer

Gabriela Lara

Janis Sakai**

Mary Terranova

VIOLAS

Robert Levine, Principal, Richard O. and Judith A. Wagner Family Principal Viola Chair

Georgi Dimitrov, Assistant Principal (2nd chair), Friends of Janet F. Ruggeri Viola Chair

Samantha Rodriguez, Assistant Principal (3rd chair)

Elizabeth Breslin

Alejandro Duque

Nathan Hackett

Erin H. Pipal

CELLOS

Susan Babini, Principal, Dorothea C. Mayer Cello Chair

Shinae Ra, Acting Assistant Principal (2nd chair)

Scott Tisdel, Associate Principal Emeritus

Madeleine Kabat

Peter Szczepanek

Peter J. Thomas

Adrien Zitoun

BASSES

Jon McCullough-Benner, Principal, Donald B. Abert Bass Chair*

Andrew Raciti, Acting Principal

Nash Tomey, Acting Assistant Principal (2nd chair)

Brittany Conrad

Omar Haffar**

Paris Myers

HARP

Julia Coronelli, Principal, Walter Schroeder Harp Chair

FLUTES

Sonora Slocum, Principal, Margaret and Roy Butter Flute Chair

Heather Zinninger, Assistant Principal

Jennifer Bouton Schaub

PICCOLO

Jennifer Bouton Schaub

OBOES

Katherine Young Steele, Principal, Milwaukee Symphony League Oboe Chair

Kevin Pearl, Assistant Principal

Margaret Butler

ENGLISH HORN

Margaret Butler, Philip and Beatrice Blank English Horn Chair in memoriam to John Martin

CLARINETS

Todd Levy, Principal, Franklyn Esenberg Clarinet Chair

Jay Shankar, Assistant Principal, Donald and Ruth P. Taylor Assistant Principal Clarinet Chair

Besnik Abrashi

E-FLAT CLARINET

Jay Shankar

BASS CLARINET

Besnik Abrashi

BASSOONS

Catherine Van Handel, Principal, Muriel C. and John D. Silbar Family Bassoon Chair

Rudi Heinrich, Assistant Principal

Beth W. Giacobassi

CONTRABASSOON

Beth W. Giacobassi

HORNS

Matthew Annin, Principal, Krause Family French Horn Chair

Krystof Pipal, Associate Principal

Dietrich Hemann, Andy Nunemaker French Horn Chair

Darcy Hamlin

Scott Sanders

TRUMPETS

Matthew Ernst, Principal, Walter L. Robb Family Trumpet Chair

David Cohen, Associate Principal, Martin J. Krebs Associate Principal Trumpet Chair

Tim McCarthy, Fred Fuller Trumpet Chair

TROMBONES

Megumi Kanda, Principal, Marjorie Tiefenthaler Trombone Chair

Kirk Ferguson, Assistant Principal

BASS TROMBONE

John Thevenet, Richard M. Kimball Bass Trombone Chair

TUBA

Robyn Black, Principal, John and Judith Simonitsch Tuba Chair

TIMPANI

Dean Borghesani, Principal

Chris Riggs, Assistant Principal

PERCUSSION

Robert Klieger, Principal

Chris Riggs

PIANO

Melitta S. Pick Endowed Piano Chair

PERSONNEL

Antonio Padilla Denis, Director of Orchestra Personnel

Paris Myers, Hiring Coordinator

LIBRARIANS

Paul Beck, Principal Librarian, James E. Van Ess Principal Librarian Chair

Matthew Geise, Assistant Librarian & Media Archivist

PRODUCTION

Tristan Wallace, Production Manager/ Live Audio

Lisa Sottile, Production Stage Manager

* Leave of Absence 2024.25 Season

** Acting member of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra 2024.25 Season

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KEN-DAVID MASUR, MUSIC DIRECTOR

Hailed as “fearless, bold, and a life-force” (San Diego Union-Tribune) and “a brilliant and commanding conductor with unmistakable charisma” (Leipzig Volkszeitung), Ken-David Masur is celebrating his sixth season as music director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and principal conductor of the Chicago Symphony’s Civic Orchestra.

Masur’s tenure in Milwaukee has been notable for innovative thematic programming, including a festival celebrating the music of the 1930s, when the Bradley Symphony Center was built; the Water Festival, which highlighted local community partners whose work centers on water conservation and education; and last season’s city-wide Bach Festival, celebrating the abiding appeal of J.S. Bach’s music in an ever-changing world. He has also instituted a multi-season artistic partnership program, and he has led highlyacclaimed performances of major choral works, including a semistaged production of Peer Gynt. This season, which celebrates the eternal interplay between words and music, he continues an artistic partnership with bass-baritone Dashon Burton and conducts Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. In Chicago, Masur leads the Civic Orchestra, the premiere training orchestra of the Chicago Symphony, in a variety of programs, including an annual Bach Marathon.

In the summer of 2024, Masur made his debut at the Oregon Bach Festival and returned to the Tanglewood Festival, where he conducted the Boston Symphony, both in a John Williams film night and in a program honoring the BSO’s longtime music director Seiji Ozawa. This season also features return appearances with the Louisville Orchestra, the Colorado Symphony, and the Omaha Symphony, and in September, Masur made his subscription debut with the New York Philharmonic. The following month, he made his subscription debut with the Chicago Symphony in a program featuring soloist Anne-Sophie Mutter.

Masur has conducted distinguished orchestras around the world, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, National, and San Francisco symphonies, l’Orchestre National de France, Minnesota Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Norway’s Kristiansand Symphony, and Tokyo’s Yomiuri Nippon Symphony. He has also made regular appearances at Ravinia, Tanglewood, the Hollywood Bowl, Grant Park, and international festivals including Verbier. Previously, Masur was associate conductor of the Boston Symphony, principal guest conductor of the Munich Symphony, associate conductor of the San Diego Symphony, and resident conductor of the San Antonio Symphony.

Music education and working with the next generation of young artists are of major importance to Masur. In addition to his work with Civic Orchestra of Chicago, he has conducted orchestras and led masterclasses at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts, New England Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, Boston University, Boston Conservatory, Tokyo’s Bunka Kaikan Chamber Orchestra, the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, and The Juilliard School, where he led the Juilliard Orchestra last season.

Masur is passionate about contemporary music and has conducted and commissioned dozens of new works, many of which have premiered at the Chelsea Music Festival, an annual summer festival in New York City founded and directed by Masur and his wife, pianist Melinda Lee Masur. The festival, which celebrated its 15th Anniversary in 2024, has been praised by The New York Times as a “gem of a series” and by Time Out New York as an “impressive addition to New York’s cultural ecosystem.”

Masur and his family are proud to call Milwaukee their home and enjoy exploring all the riches of the Third Coast.

Photo by Adam DeTour

EDO DE WAART, MUSIC DIRECTOR LAUREATE

Throughout his long and illustrious career, renowned Dutch conductor Edo de Waart has held a multitude of posts with orchestras around the world, including music directorships with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Antwerp Symphony, New Zealand Symphony, and Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and a chief conductorship with the De Nederlandse Opera and Santa Fe Opera.

Edo de Waart served as principal guest conductor of the San Diego Symphony, conductor laureate of both the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, and music director laureate of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.

As an opera conductor, de Waart has enjoyed success in a large and varied repertoire in many of the world’s greatest opera houses. He has conducted at Bayreuth, Salzburg Festival, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Opéra Bastille, Santa Fe Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera. With the aim of bringing opera to broader audiences where concert halls prevent full staging, he has, as music director in Milwaukee, Antwerp, and Hong Kong, often conducted semi-staged and opera in concert performances.

A renowned orchestral trainer, he has been involved with projects working with talented young players at the Juilliard and Colburn schools and the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara.

Edo de Waart’s extensive catalogue encompasses releases for Philips, Virgin, EMI, Telarc, and RCA. Recent recordings include Henderickx’s Symphony No. 1 and Oboe Concerto, Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, and Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, all with the Royal Flemish Philharmonic.

Beginning his career as an assistant conductor to Leonard Bernstein at the New York Philharmonic, de Waart then returned to Holland, where he was appointed assistant conductor to Bernard Haitink at the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Edo de Waart has received a number of awards for his musical achievements, including becoming a Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion and an Honorary Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia. He is also an Honorary Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.

Photo by Jesse Willems

BYRON STRIPLING, PRINCIPAL POPS CONDUCTOR

With a contagious smile and captivating charm, conductor, trumpet virtuoso, singer, and actor Byron Stripling ignites audiences across the globe. In 2024, Stripling was named Stein Family Foundation Principal Pops Conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Stripling is also principal pops conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and he currently serves as artistic director and conductor of the highly acclaimed Columbus Jazz Orchestra. Stripling’s baton has led countless orchestras throughout the United States and Canada, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood and the orchestras of San Diego, St. Louis, Virginia, Toronto, Baltimore, Milwaukee, Fort Worth, Rochester, Buffalo, Florida, Portland, and Sarasota, to name a few.

As a soloist with the Boston Pops, Stripling has performed frequently under the baton of Keith Lockhart, including as the featured soloist on the PBS television special Evening at Pops with conductors John Williams and Mr. Lockhart.

Since his Carnegie Hall debut with Skitch Henderson and the New York Pops, Stripling has become a pops orchestra favorite throughout the country, soloing with over 100 orchestras around the world. He has been a featured soloist at the Hollywood Bowl and performs at festivals around the world.

An accomplished actor and singer, Stripling was chosen, following a worldwide search, to star in the lead role of the Broadway-bound musical Satchmo. Many will remember his featured cameo performance in the television movie The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, and his critically acclaimed virtuoso trumpet and riotous comedic performance in the 42nd Street production of From Second Avenue to Broadway.

Television viewers have enjoyed his work as soloist on the worldwide telecast of The Grammy Awards. Millions have heard his trumpet and voice on television commercials, TV theme songs including 20/20 and CNN and soundtracks of favorite movies. In addition to multiple recordings with his quintet and work with artists from Tony Bennett to Whitney Houston, his prolific recording career includes hundreds of albums with the greatest pop, Broadway, soul, and jazz artists of all time.

Stripling earned his stripes as lead trumpeter and soloist with the Count Basie Orchestra under the direction of Thad Jones and Frank Foster. He has also played and recorded extensively with the bands of Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Dave Brubeck, Lionel Hampton, Clark Terry, Louis Bellson, and Buck Clayton in addition to the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, and The GRP All Star Big Band.

Stripling is devoted to giving back and supports several philanthropic organizations, including the United Way and The Community Shelter Board. He also enjoys sharing the power of music through seminars and master classes at colleges, universities, conservatories, and high schools.

Stripling was educated at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and the Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan. One of his greatest joys is to return, periodically, to Eastman and Interlochen as a special guest lecturer.

A resident of Ohio, Stripling lives in the country with his wife Alexis, a former dancer, writer, and poet and their beautiful daughters.

Photo by John Abbott

RYAN TANI, ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR

Ryan Tani is in his second season as assistant conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. In 2021, he completed his two-year tenure as the Orchestral Conducting Fellow for the Yale Philharmonia under Music Director Peter Oundjian, where he was the recipient of the Dean’s Prize for artistic excellence in his graduating class. Committed to meaningful community music-making in the state of Montana, Tani has directed the Bozeman Chamber Orchestra, Bozeman Symphonic Choir, Second String Orchestra, and MSU Symphony Orchestras. He frequently serves as cover conductor for the St. Louis, Colorado, and Bozeman symphonies and recently served on the faculty at the Montana State University School of Music.

Tani recently concluded his tenure as music director of the Occasional Symphony in Baltimore. A fierce advocate of new music, Tani curated over 20 commissions from Baltimore-based composers during his fouryear directorship of OS. As resident conductor of the New Music New Haven series, he has collaborated, under the guidance of Aaron Jay Kernis, with Yale University composition students and faculty.

Tani is also a graduate of the Peabody Institute, where he studied conducting with Marin Alsop and Markand Thakar, and of the University of Southern California, where he studied voice with Gary Glaze. In 2015, he was declared the winner of the ACDA Undergraduate Student Conducting Competition at their national conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. In addition to his studies at Yale and Peabody, Tani has also studied conducting with Larry Rachleff, Donald Schleicher, Gerard Schwarz, Grant Cooper, and José-Luis Novo. Tani currently resides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he can be found in the park with his dog, playing board games with friends and family, in the library with a good book, or in the practice room with his violin.

MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY CHORUS

The Milwaukee Symphony Chorus, founded in 1976, is known and respected as one of the finest choruses in the country. Under the direction of Dr. Cheryl Frazes Hill, the 2024-25 season with the MSO includes works by Poulenc, Brahms, Wagner, Verdi, and Mozart, as well as Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and the Hometown Holiday Pops performances.

The 150-member chorus has been praised by reviewers for “technical agility,” “remarkable ensemble cohesion,” and “tremendous clarity.” In addition to performances with the MSO, the chorus has appeared on public television and recorded performances for radio stations throughout the country. The chorus has performed a cappella concerts to sold-out audiences and has made guest appearances with other performing arts groups, including Present Music, Milwaukee Ballet, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The chorus has also made appearances at suburban Chicago’s famed Ravinia Festival.

The Margaret Hawkins Chorus Director Chair was funded by a chorus-led campaign during the ensemble’s 30th anniversary season in 2006, in honor of the founding chorus director, Margaret Hawkins.

Comprised of teachers, lawyers, students, doctors, musicians, homemakers, and more, each of its members brings not only musical quality, but a sheer love of music to their task. “We have the best seats in the house,” one member said, a sentiment echoed throughout the membership. Please visit mso.org/chorus for more information on becoming a part of the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus.

Photo by Jonathan Kirn

CHORUS MEMBERS & STAFF

Jahnavi Acharya

Anna Aiuppa

Mia Akers

Laura Albright-Wengler

Anthony Andronczyk

James Anello

u Thomas R. Bagwell

Evan Bagwell

Barbara Barth Czarkowski

Marshall Beckman

Yacob Bennett

Emily Bergeron

JoAnn Berk

Edward Blumenthal

Jillian Boes

u Scott Bolens

Neil R. Brooks

Michelle Budny

Ellen N. Burmeister

Gabrielle Campbell

Katie Cantwell

Gerardo Carcar

Elise Cismesia

Ian Clark

Sarah M. Cook

Amanda Coplan

Sarah Culhane

Phoebe Dawsey

Colin Destache

Rebeca Dishaw

Megan Kathleen Dixson

Rachel Dutler

James Edgar

Joe Ehlinger

Katelyn Farebrother

Michael Faust

Catherine Fettig

Marty Foral

STAFF

Robert Friebus

u Karen Frink

Maria Fuller

Jonathan Gaston-Falk

Willie Gesch

Samantha Gibson

Jessica Golinski

Mark R. Hagner

Mary Hamlin

Beth Harenda u Karen Heins

Mary Catherine Helgren

Kurt Hellermann

Martha Hellermann

Melissa Kay Herbst

Eric Hickson

Michelle Hiebert

Laura Hochmuth

Amy Hudson

Matthew Hunt

Stan Husi

u Tina Itson

• Christine Jameson

Paula J. Jeske

John Jorgensen

Caitleen Kahn

• Heidi Kastern

Christin Kieckhafer

Robert Knier

Jill Kortebein

Kaleigh KozakLichtman

Kyle J. Kramer

u Joseph M. Krechel

Julia M. Kreitzer

Savannah Grace

Kroeger

• Harry Krueger

Benjamin Kuhlmann

Cheryl Frazes Hill, chorus director

Timothy J. Benson, assistant director

Terree Shofner-Emrich, primary pianist

Melissa Cardamone, Jeong-In Kim, rehearsal pianists

Darwin J. Sanders, language/diction coach

Christina Williams, chorus manager

Alexandra Lerch-Gaggl

Nicholas Lin

Robert Lochhead

Kristine Lorbeske

Grace Majewski

Douglas R. Marx

Joy Mast

Justin J. Maurer

Betsy McCool

Shannon McMullen

Hilary Merline

Kathleen O. Miller

Megan Miller

Bailey Moorhead

Jennifer Mueller

Lucia Muniagurria

Matthew Neu

Kristin Nikkel

Jason Niles

Alice Nuteson

Robert Paddock

Elizabeth Phillips

R. Scott Pierce

u Jessica E. Pihart

Olivia Pogodzinski

Bianca Pratte

Kaitlin Quigley

Mary E. Rafel

Jason Reuschlein

Rehanna Rexroat

James Reynolds

Marc Charles Ricard

Amanda Robison

Veronica Samiec

u Bridget Sampson

James Sampson

Joshua S. Samson

Darwin J. Sanders

Alana Sawall

John T. Schilling

Sarah Schmeiser

Rand C. Schmidt

Randy Schmidt

u Allison Schnier

Andrew T. Schramm

Matthew Seider

Bennett Shebesta

u Hannah Sheppard

David Siegworth

Bruce Soto

u Joel P. Spiess

u Todd Stacey

u Donald E. Stettler

Scott Stieg

Donna Stresing

Laura Sufferling

Ashley Ellen Suresh

Joseph Thiel

Dean-Yar Tigrani

Clare Urbanski

Matthew Van Hecke

Tess Weinkauf

Emma Mingesz Weiss

Michael Werni

Erin Weyers

Charles T. White

Christina Williams

Emilie Williams

Sally Salkowski Witte

Kevin R. Woller

Rachel Yap

Jamie Mae Yu

Michele Zampino

Katarzyna Zawislak

Stephanie Zimmer

u Section Leader

• Librarian

DR. CHERYL FRAZES HILL, CHORUS DIRECTOR

Dr. Cheryl Frazes Hill is now in her eighth season as director of the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus. In addition to her role in Milwaukee, she is the associate conductor of the Chicago Symphony Chorus. Frazes Hill is professor emerita at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts, where she served for 20 years as director of choral activities and head of music education. During the 2024-25 season, Frazes Hill will prepare the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus for classical performances of Poulenc’s Gloria, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Brahms’s German Requiem, and concluding with Great Moments in Grand Opera.

In her role as the Chicago Symphony Chorus associate conductor, she has prepared the chorus for Maestros Alsop, Boulez, Barenboim, Conlon, Levine, Mehta, Salonen, Tilson Thomas, and many others. Recordings of Frazes Hill’s chorus preparations on the Chicago Symphony Orchestra label include Beethoven, A Tribute to Daniel Barenboim, and Chicago Symphony Chorus: A 50th Anniversary Celebration.

Under her direction, the Roosevelt University choruses have been featured in prestigious and diverse events, including appearances at national and regional music conferences and performances with professional orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and the Illinois Philharmonic. The Roosevelt Conservatory Chorus received enthusiastic reviews for their American premiere of Jacob ter Veldhuis’s Mountaintop. Other recent performances have included the internationally acclaimed production of Defiant Requiem and three appearances with The Rolling Stones during a recent United States concert tour.

Frazes Hill received her master’s and doctoral degrees in conducting from Northwestern University and bachelor’s degrees in voice and music education from the University of Illinois. An accomplished vocalist, she is a featured soloist in the Grammy-nominated recording CBS Masterworks release Mozart: Music for Basset Horns. An award-winning conductor and educator, Frazes Hill recently received the ACDA Harold Decker Conducting Award, the Mary Hoffman Music Educators Award, and in past years, the Commendation of Excellence in Teaching from the Golden Apple Foundation, the Illinois Governor’s Award, Roosevelt University’s Presidential Award for Social Justice, the Northwestern University Alumni Merit Award, and the Outstanding Teaching Award from the University of Chicago, among others.

Frazes Hill’s recently released book, Margaret Hillis: Unsung Pioneer, a biography of the famed female conductor, received a commendation from the 2023 Midwest Book Awards. Frazes Hill is nationally published on topics of her research in choral conducting and music education. A frequent guest conductor, clinician, and guest speaker, Frazes Hill regularly collaborates with Maestro Marin Alsop at Ravinia Festival’s Breaking Barriers, providing workshops for Taki Alsop women conducting fellows. Upcoming appearances this season include a presentation at the American Choral Directors National Conference and a three-day residency at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music.

HOMETOWN HOLIDAY POPS

Saturday, December 14, 2024 at 2:30 pm

Saturday, December 14, 2024 at 7:30 pm

Sunday, December 15, 2024 at 2:30 pm

Friday, December 20, 2024 at 7:30 pm

Saturday, December 21, 2024 at 2:30 pm

Saturday, December 21, 2024 at 7:30 pm

Sunday, December 22, 2024 at 2:30 pm

ALLEN-BRADLEY HALL

Ryan Tani, conductor

Alli Mauzey, soprano & narrator

Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble

Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

Timothy Benson, assistant chorus director

VARIOUS/arr. Sean O’Loughlin

Christmas Canticles

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Joy to the World

O Christmas Tree

O Come, All Ye Faithful

Silent Night

GEORGES BIZET

Suite No. 2 from L’Arlésienne

IV. Farandole

Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

DONALD FRASER

This Christmastide (Jessye’s Carol)

Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

EDWARD POLA AND GEORGE WYLE/arr. David Clydesdale

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Alli Mauzey, soprano

Continued on page 15

HOMETOWN HOLIDAY POPS

Continued from page 15

MEL TORMÉ AND ROBERT WELLS/RALPH BLANE AND HUGH MARTIN/arr. Chris Waldin

The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Alli Mauzey, soprano

TRADITIONAL/arr. Bud Wayne Bisbee

A German Music Box

PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY

Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble

Suite from The Nutcracker, Op. 71a

IIb. Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy

IIc. Russian Dance (Trepak)

RANDOL ALAN BASS

The Night Before Christmas

Alli Mauzey, narrator

INTERMISSION

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

Hodie [This Day]

I. Prologue

Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

JAMES LORD PIERPONT/arr. Paul Hemmer

Jingle Bells à la Barbara

Alli Mauzey, soprano

JERRY HERMAN/arr. Robert Wendel

We Need a Little Christmas

Alli Mauzey, soprano

Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

KIM GANNON, WALTER KENT, AND SAMUEL RAM/arr. Dewells Barton

I’ll Be Home for Christmas

Alli Mauzey, soprano

TRADITIONAL

The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came

Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble

TRADITIONAL/arr. John Wasson

Bellsong Fantasy

LEROY ANDERSON

Sleigh Ride

VARIOUS/arr. John Finnegan

Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble

Christmas Sing-along Jingle Bells

Joy to the World

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Silent Night

Deck the Halls

O Come, All Ye Faithful

Alli Mauzey, soprano

Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

TRADITIONAL/arr. Gary Fry

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Alli Mauzey, soprano

Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble

Hometown Holiday Pops is presented by WE ENERGIES FOUNDATION. This weekend’s media sponsor is WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO.

The length of this concert is approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes. All programs are subject to change.

Guest Artist Biographies

ALLI MAUZEY

Alli Mauzey was most recently seen starring on Broadway in the critically acclaimed world premiere of Kimberly Akimbo. Before that, Mauzey starred as Ernestina in the Tony Award-winning revival of Hello, Dolly! Other Broadway credits include Glinda in Wicked, a role she also performed to critical acclaim on the First National Tour and with the San Francisco company; Lenora in the musical Cry-Baby, for which she won a Theatre World Award and was nominated for a Drama League Award; and Brenda in Hairspray (both on Broadway and in the original company of the First National Tour). Mauzey also originated the role of Lenora in the preBroadway production of Cry-Baby at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego (Theatre Critics Circle Award). Other New York credits include New York City Center’s Encores! series in the role of Minerva in The Golden Apple as well as Sydney in It’s a Bird...It’s a Plane...It’s Superman and the OffBroadway production of Red Eye of Love. Regionally, she has appeared as Mallory in City of Angels for Reprise! in Los Angeles, Snookie in 110 in the Shade at the Pasadena Playhouse, and Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors at The Muny, for which she was nominated for a Kevin Kline Award.

Mauzey has also had the pleasure of performing with symphony orchestras across the country, including playing Ellie in Show Boat with the New York Philharmonic and the title role in Cinderella alongside the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, benefiting the charity Show Hope. Recent and upcoming engagements include the Philly Pops, Pittsburgh Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, Maryland Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Maui Pops Orchestra, Corpus Christi Symphony, Sarasota Symphony, Tucson Symphony, Kalamazoo Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, Shreveport Symphony, Desert Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Missouri Symphony, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Idaho State Civic Symphony, West Virginia Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Orlando Philharmonic, North Carolina Symphony, Akron Symphony, Houston Symphony, Knoxville Symphony, Allentown Symphony, Lincoln Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, and Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen (Germany). She has a BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in drama and a minor in music.

MILWAUKEE HANDBELL ENSEMBLE

Over the past 21 years, the Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble has gained wide popularity in our community and beyond. MHE is an auditioned community handbell ensemble under the direction of Jana Larson with 13 ringers who play 73 handbells and 73 hand chimes.

Within these 21 years, MHE has become known for their astonishing, memorized performances, for premiering new arrangements of popular music, and for being the recording choir for American Guild of English Handbell Ringers (AGEHR) Publishing. They have been guest performers with the Midwest Vocal Express, Bel Canto Chorus, Present Music, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus. MHE has performed numerous times with the MSO under conductors Doc Severinsen, Stuart Chafetz, Jeff Tyzik, and Andreas Delfs. In December 2023, MHE was invited to perform at the halftime show for the Milwaukee Bucks.

MHE has also expanded their reach by taking mini-tours to Minnesota, South Dakota, and Michigan, performing by invitation at the Area 7 Handbell Festival in Sioux Falls in 2016 and playing the closing concert of the National Seminar for the Handbell Musicians of America in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 2018.

MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY

Guest Artist Biographies

In May of 2013, the Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble became a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Their mission is “To further the art of handbell ringing by educating, inspiring, and informing others of the art form” by showcasing advanced handbell repertoire while serving as a musical resource for the Milwaukee metropolitan area and beyond.

MHE has recorded two CDs: An American Sampler (including boogie-woogie blues, jazz, gospel, and more) and their most recent release, An MHE Christmas Celebration

Guest Artist Biographies

TIMOTHY BENSON

Timothy Benson has been the assistant director of the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus since 1994 and has prepared the chorus for several of its previous Holiday Pops concerts.

He has served as director of music and organist at several churches since playing his first mass at age 10. A Milwaukee native, he began playing the piano at the age of five before taking up pipe organ studies. His former teachers include S. Theophane Hytrek, Christopher Herrick, and Peter le Huray.

Graduate studies in music took Benson to England, where he studied musical composition at Cambridge University. Teachers included Paul Patterson and Robin Holloway, in addition to his private studies in Wales with William Mathias. A summer session in Croydon at the Royal School of Church Music included further studies in organ with Peter Hurford and Stephen Cleobury and vocal pedagogy and choral conducting with Philip Ledger and George Guest. That summer saw Benson as the guest organist in a performance of J. S. Bach’s Magnificat for Her Majesty, the Queen Mother.

Upon returning to the U.S., he joined the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus, then under the directorship of its founder, Margaret Hawkins, who asked him to pursue yet further graduate studies with her at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. While there, he studied choral conducting with Hawkins, orchestral conducting with Daniel Forlano, and vocal pedagogy with Signe Quale.

Benson enjoys the life of working with the wonderful musicians of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Milwaukee Symphony Chorus, bringing the soul-enriching beauty of music to the wider community, providing great organ music and choral direction to churches in the area, and maintaining a small but thriving number of both organ and voice students.

THE KING’S SINGERS

Monday, December 16, 2024 at 7:30 pm

ALLEN-BRADLEY HALL

The King’s Singers

Patrick Dunachie, countertenor

Edward Button, countertenor

Julian Gregory, tenor

Christopher Bruerton, baritone

Nick Ashby, baritone

Jonathan Howard, bass

CAROLS FROM KING’S

HENRY JAMES HAUNTLETT/arr. Nick Ashby

Once in Royal David’s City

BOB CHILCOTT

The Shepherd’s Carol

ROBERT PEARSALL/arr. Daniel Hyde

In dulci jubilo

OLA GJEILO

Northern Lights

NORTHERN LIGHTS

BERNHARD SEVERIN INGEMANN/arr. Ole Faurschou

Deilig er jorden

EDVARD GRIEG

Ave maris stella

ARIEL RAMIREZ/arr. Peter Knight

La peregrinación

Continued on page 22

THE NEW WORLD

THE KING’S SINGERS

Continued from page 21

ANONYMOUS/arr. Philip Lawson

Riu, riu, chiu

TOMÁS LUIS DE VICTORIA

O magnum mysterium

JUAN GUTIÉRREZ DE PADILLA

A siolo flasiquiyo

FINDING HARMONY AT CHRISTMAS

VINCE GUARALDI/arr. Nick Ashby

Christmas Time Is Here

FRANZ XAVER GRUBER/arr. Keith Roberts and John Rutter

Stille Nacht [Silent Night]

TRADITIONAL/arr. Geoffrey Keating

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

INTERMISSION

CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS

Sérénade d’hiver

CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF DISNEY

LEIGH HARLINE/arr. John Rutter

When You Wish Upon a Star

A further selection of seasonal songs celebrating the magic of 100 years of Disney.

THE CHRISTMAS STOCKING

Festive favorites and brand-new surprises from The King’s Singers world-famous close-harmony library.

The length of this concert is approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes. All programs are subject to change.

Guest Artist Biographies

THE KING’S SINGERS

The King’s Singers have set the gold standard in a cappella singing on the world’s greatest stages for over 55 years. They are renowned for their unrivaled technique, musicianship, and versatility, which stem from the group’s rich heritage and its drive to bring an extraordinary range of new and unique works, collaborations, and recordings to life. The King’s Singers’ extensive discography has led to numerous awards, including two Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award, and a place in Gramophone magazine’s inaugural Hall of Fame.

The King’s Singers were officially formed in 1968 when six recent choral scholars from King’s College, Cambridge, gave a concert at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. By chance, the group was made up of two countertenors, a tenor, two baritones, and a bass, and the group has stuck to this formation ever since.

In the last few years, the group has recorded a series of diverse, collaborative albums that showcase the huge breadth of their repertoire. One honors two great English Renaissance composers: Thomas Weelkes and William Byrd; another is centered around Romantic music; a third honors 100 years of Disney, with 28 brand-new arrangements of iconic Disney songs; a fourth is a double album focused on the group’s library of signature “close harmony” arrangements; and another celebrates the group’s extraordinary body of commissioned new music.

Growing the global canon of choral music has always been one of the group’s key aims, and The King’s Singers have now commissioned more than 300 works by many of the most prominent composers of the 20th and 21st centuries. These composers include John Tavener, Joe Hisaishi, Judith Bingham, Eric Whitacre, György Ligeti, Luciano Berio, Krzysztof Penderecki, and Tōru Takemitsu. All this new music joins their body of bespoke a cappella arrangements, including many by King’s Singers past and present.

Alongside their demanding performing and recording schedule — with over 100 concerts worldwide every season — the group leads educational workshops and residential courses across the globe, working with ensembles on their approaches to group singing. To mark their 50th anniversary in 2018, they founded The King’s Singers Global Foundation (based in the U.S.) to provide a platform to support the creation of new music across multiple disciplines, to coach a new generation of performers, and to provide musical opportunities to people of all backgrounds.

McGEGAN CONDUCTS HAYDN

Friday, January 17, 2025 at 7:30 pm

Saturday, January 18, 2025 at 7:30 pm

ALLEN-BRADLEY HALL

Nicholas McGegan, conductor

Saleem Ashkar, piano

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART

Symphony No. 33 in B-flat major, K. 319

I. Allegro assai

II. Andante moderato

III. Menuetto

IV. Allegro assai

FELIX MENDELSSOHN

Concerto No. 1 in G minor for Piano and Orchestra, Opus 25

I. Molto allegro con fuoco

II. Andante

III. Presto – Molto allegro e vivace

Saleem Ashkar, piano

INTERMISSION

JOHANN MICHAEL HAYDN

Incidental music from Zaïre, MH 255, P. 13

IV. Allegro molto

V. Largo

FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN

Symphony No. 100 in G major, Hob. I:100, “Military”

I. Adagio – Allegro

II. Allegretto

III. Menuet: Moderato

IV. Presto

The 2024.25 Classics Series is presented by the UNITED PERFORMING ARTS FUND and ROCKWELL AUTOMATION. The MSO Steinway Piano was made possible through a generous gift from MICHAEL AND JEANNE SCHMITZ

The length of this concert is approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes. All programs are subject to change.

Guest Artist Biographies

NICHOLAS MCGEGAN

In his sixth decade on the podium, Nicholas McGegan — long hailed as “one of the finest baroque conductors of his generation” (The Independent) and “an expert in 18th-century style” (The New Yorker) — is recognized for his probing and revelatory explorations of music of all periods. Following a 34-year tenure as music director of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale, he is now music director laureate.

Best known as a Baroque and Classical specialist, McGegan’s approach — intelligent, infused with joy, and never dogmatic — has made him a pioneer in broadening the reach of historically informed practice beyond the world of period ensembles to conventional symphonic forces. His guest-conducting appearances with major orchestras — including the New York, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong philharmonics; the Chicago, Dallas, Milwaukee, Toronto, Sydney, and New Zealand symphonies; the Philadelphia Orchestra; and the orchestras of London’s Royal Opera House and Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw — often feature Baroque repertoire alongside Classical, Romantic, 20th-century, and even brand-new works.

Highlights of his 2024-25 orchestral bookings include a return to Disney Hall, conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Vivaldi, Haydn, and Mozart; performances of Handel with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra; conducting the Indianapolis Symphony in performances of Bach, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky; and engagements with the Chamber Music Society of St. Louis and the Baltimore, Bournemouth, and Milwaukee symphony orchestras.

McGegan is committed to the next generation of musicians, frequently conducting and coaching students in residencies at Yale University, The Juilliard School, Harvard University, the Colburn School, Aspen Music Festival and School, Sarasota Music Festival, and the Music Academy of the West. He has been awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Music by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, an honorary professorship at Georg-August University, Göttingen, and in 2016, was the Christoph Wolff Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Harvard.

English-born, McGegan was educated at Cambridge and Oxford. He was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) “for services to music overseas.” Other awards include the Halle Handel Prize; the Order of Merit of the State of Lower Saxony (Germany); the Medal of Honour of the City of Göttingen; and a declaration of Nicholas McGegan Day by the Mayor of San Francisco in recognition of his work with Philharmonia Baroque.

Guest Artist Biographies

SALEEM ASHKAR

Saleem Ashkar made his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 22 and has since gone on to establish an exciting international career. The 2024-25 season sees Ashkar return to the Orchestre National de Lyon with Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, the St. Louis Symphony with David Afkham, and the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen with Ariane Matiakh, and he makes his debut with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. He will also return for a recital at the Queen’s Hall in Copenhagen for the first of a twopart Schumann Cycle.

Recent concerto highlights include the Bamberger Symphony, Gävle Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta de Valencia, Konzerthaus Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Copenhagen Philharmonic. In autumn 2021, he toured Germany with the Kammerakademie Potsdam, performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and the world premiere of David Coleman’s Piano Concerto.

Previous seasons have seen him perform with the Vienna Philharmonic, London Symphony, Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Detroit, Vancouver, and Tokyo Metropolitan symphony orchestras, and on a three-week tour to Australia. Ashkar has a close relationship with many leading conductors, including David Afkham, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Chailly, Jakub Hrůša, Pietari Inkinen, Fabio Luisi, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Kazushi Ono, and Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider.

A dedicated recitalist and chamber musician, Ashkar has a particularly strong reputation as a Beethoven specialist and has performed the complete sonata cycle in Prague, Duisburg, and at the Konzerthaus Berlin. Recent highlights include recitals at Oslo Opera House, Wigmore Hall in London, Queen’s Hall in Copenhagen, the Milan Conservatory Hall, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Boulezsaal Berlin, and Musikverein Vienna.

Ashkar is the artistic director of the Galilee Chamber Orchestra, formed of young and professional musicians to encourage collaboration between the Arab and Jewish communities in Israel. Ashkar works with the orchestra both as conductor and soloist. In March 2022, they made their debut at Carnegie Hall in a program with Joshua Bell as soloist and at Koerner Hall in Toronto. Recent engagements included a highly acclaimed European tour, which included performances at Konzerthaus Berlin and the Rheingau Musik Festival. This season, they will tour Germany and Spain, including concerts at the Bachfest Leipzig, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and in Madrid.

Ashkar’s most recent recording for Decca Records is the complete Beethoven piano sonata cycle, which spans six discs. Previous recordings have included the Mendelssohn piano concertos with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Chailly and Beethoven’s concertos No. 1 and No. 4 with the NDR Elbphilharmonie and Ivor Bolton.

Ashkar is a professor of piano and director of the Applied Music Keyboard Program at Brown University.

Program notes by Elaine Schmidt

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART

Born 27 January 1756; Salzburg, Austria

Died 5 December 1791; Vienna, Austria

Symphony No. 33 in B-flat major, K. 319

Composed: Dated 9 July 1779; revised 1782 or 1785

First performance: Unknown; first publication in 1785

Last MSO performance: 9 December 1960; Harry John Brown, conductor

Instrumentation: 2 oboes; 2 bassoons; 2 horns; strings

Approximate duration: 19 minutes

Tourists flock to Salzburg, Austria, today, drawn by its beauty, charm, ties to Mozart, and sites that were used in the filming of The Sound of Music. Mozart, however, called Salzburg his “prison.” Told from a very young age that he was a prodigy, Mozart and his sister Nannerl were presented in performances across Europe, playing for the royalty and the aristocracy, but when Mozart ceased being an adorable child with astonishing musical abilities, he ceased being a fascination for them.

Mozart and his mother toured Europe when he was 22 to find the young man a job, but because Mozart was no longer a novelty, the tour brought no job offers. However, it did bring heartbreak when Mozart’s mother fell ill and died in Paris, and Mozart had to write the sad news to his father and sister. Mozart returned to Salzburg after the tour, where his father found him work, serving variously as concertmaster, court organist, and court musician.

Hating the job and feeling trapped in Salzburg, Mozart yearned to move to Vienna, where he believed he would be respected and appreciated. He wrote and conducted his Symphony No. 33 in Salzburg. Composed in the three-movement Italian fashion, it was lightly orchestrated, largely because his employer didn’t care to spend much money on music. Mozart moved to Vienna in 1781, and he added a fourth movement to the symphony, hoping to make it as popular as possible with Viennese audiences. While much of Mozart’s music was well received in Vienna, freelance life was a constant struggle. In addition, the fact that audiences were less impressed by the polished, elegant, and stirring music he was writing as an adult than they had been with music he had written when he was a child was befuddling and soul-crushing. Nevertheless, Mozart’s Symphony No. 33 is an elegantly beautiful, luminous piece of music and decidedly a much more mature work than anything he could have written during his prodigy years.

FELIX MENDELSSOHN

Born 3 February 1809; Hamburg, Germany

Died 4 November 1847; Leipzig, Germany

Concerto No. 1 in G minor for Piano and Orchestra, Opus 25

Composed: 1830 – 1831

First performance: 17 October 1831; Felix Mendelssohn, piano; Odeon Concert Hall, Munich

Last MSO performance: 14 June 2008; Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor; Arnaldo Cohen, piano

Instrumentation: 2 flutes; 2 oboes; 2 clarinets; 2 bassoons; 2 horns; 2 trumpets; timpani; strings

Approximate duration: 21 minutes

Composer Felix Mendelssohn wrote about 750 compositions during his lifetime. That sounds like an impressive number, but it becomes more impressive when you remember that he managed to complete those pieces in the 38 years of his tragically short life. Both Mendelssohn and his sister Fanny died in 1847, he at age 38 and she at age 41. Of those 750 pieces, two are solo piano concertos — the more popular of which is his Concerto No. 1 in G minor.

Mendelssohn wrote the piece when he was just 21 years old, and although we think of him as a composer, he was a brilliant pianist as well. In fact, he played the premiere of this concerto himself.

The concerto contains a good deal of improvisation for the soloist, which was one of Mendelssohn’s specialties. Mendelssohn was also interested in connecting the movements of concertos, and you will hear three very connected movements this evening. Mendelssohn said of the piece that he had written it very quickly, in just a few days, almost carelessly. But those who heard it once it was completed loved it. Clara Schumann and Franz Liszt played a great part in promoting the piece and making sure audiences heard it. Hector Berlioz told a story about a piano upon which the concerto had been performed too often. It involved keys moving of their own volition, holy water sprinkled on the piano, and several other bizarre goings-on. Eventually, if his story is to be believed, the piano maker Érard himself chopped it to bits with an ax.

Perhaps the most difficult thing to fathom about Mendelssohn’s short life and career is what he accomplished in that time. In addition to the 750 pieces he composed, he also reintroduced the public to Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, ushering in an era of Bach adoration that continues today. He also made several beautiful paintings of the Saint Thomas School in Leipzig, where Bach and family lived, while he was teaching at the school.

JOHANN MICHAEL HAYDN

Born 14 September 1737; Rohrau, Austria

Died 10 August 1806; Salzburg, Austria

Incidental music from Zaïre, MH 255, P. 13

Composed: 1777

First performance: Unknown

Last MSO performance: MSO Premiere

Instrumentation: 2 flutes; 2 oboes (2nd doubling on English horn); bassoon; 2 horns; trumpet; percussion (bass drum, cymbals, snare drum, triangle); harpsichord; strings

Approximate duration: 10 minutes

Johann Michael Haydn was one of the younger brothers of Franz Josef Haydn, who followed his elder into a life in music. Franz Joseph left his family’s home at age six to study with a relative who taught music. He eventually won a spot in the chorus and school of the St. Stephen’s Cathedral and School in Vienna. He paved the way for Michael to sing and study at St. Stephen’s as well, later doing the same for another younger brother, Johann Evangelist, his parents’ 11th child. Franz Joseph rose to international fame, while Michael built a solid career in Salzburg, and Johann Evangelist had an undistinguished musical career as a singer. Their father, however, a small-town wheelwright, was delighted that three of his sons had the advantages of such opportunities.

While he was working in Salzburg, Michael became good friends with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who was 19 years his junior, as did Franz Joseph. In the spirit of that friendship, Mozart stepped in when Michael was ill and could not complete the series of duos for which he had a commission. Michael had completed four of the duos, but Mozart wrote the last two, allowing Michael to meet the deadline and to collect the fee. Musicologists have found influences of Michael’s writing in several of Mozart’s pieces, not the least of which being his Requiem, which Mozart left unfinished at the time of his death. Michael’s musical influence appears not only in the portions Mozart is known to have written but also in the portions written by others to complete the Requiem. Michael did not have such a congenial relationship with Mozart’s father, Leopold Mozart. Leopold actively campaigned against Michael several times, hoping to secure positions for his son rather than see them go to Michael.

Michael’s incidental music to the play Zaïre, which you will hear this evening, is a testament to the fact that although Michael did not achieve his older brother’s reputation, he did, nevertheless, develop an international reputation of his own. Zaïre is a play written by the famous and astonishingly prolific French author, Voltaire.

FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN

Born 31 March 1732; Rohrau, Austria

Died 31 May 1809; Vienna, Austria

Symphony No. 100 in G major, Hob. I:100, “Military”

Composed: 1793 – 1794

First performance: 31 March 1794; Franz Joseph Haydn, conductor; Hanover Square Rooms, London

Last MSO performance: 26 March 2011; Christopher Seaman, conductor

Instrumentation: 2 flutes; 2 oboes; 2 clarinets; 2 bassoons; 2 horns; 2 trumpets; timpani; percussion (bass drum, cymbals, triangle); strings

Approximate duration: 24 minutes

Three of the composers on tonight’s program knew each other well, appreciated each other’s music, and are known to have played chamber music together. Franz Joseph Haydn was taken from his parents’ home at age six by a relative who could provide him both housing and music lessons. He never lived in their home again. In his later years, he was among the most famous, respected musicians in Europe, and he was known as “Papa Haydn” among younger musicians in the Esterházy court, his employer for 29 years. The nickname persisted, as a gesture of respect, when he moved to Vienna after he left the Esterházys. The affectionate nickname became a relatively common one, denoting the admiration his colleagues felt for him, as well as for the mentorship he provided to many younger musicians. He also provided the same educational opportunities he had been given for both his brother, Michael, who became a respected composer in his own right, and his much younger brother, Johann, who became a vocalist. Mozart arrived in Vienna in 1781, hoping to take the city by storm and reclaim some of the adulation he had received as a child prodigy. You might expect Haydn to have received Mozart rather coolly, viewing him as competition, but you would be wrong. Haydn was thrilled by Mozart’s exceptional musical abilities. The two became very good friends. While we do not have a host of letters or much other documentation of their friendship, some of their statements about each other have survived to the present day, giving us a glimpse of their friendship and the very high esteem in which they held each other.

Haydn’s Symphony No. 100 (nicknamed the “Military”) is full of sounds people of his era would’ve expected to hear on a battlefield, such as a bugle call and drumrolls, along with percussion sounds largely reserved for operas at the time. The symphony is part of the last 12 symphonies Haydn would write, cementing his status as the Father of the Symphony. He conducted performances of the pieces from the harpsichord while in London.

MAY 16, 2025 AT 7:30PM

MAY 18, 2025 AT 2:30PM

UIHLEIN HALL, MARCUS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

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TCHAIKOVSKY’S ROMEO & JULIET

“WITHIN HER ARMS” — EXPRESSIONS OF LOVE

Friday, January 24, 2025 at 7:30 pm

Saturday, January 25, 2025 at 7:30 pm

ALLEN-BRADLEY HALL

Ken-David Masur, conductor

Jinwoo Lee, violin

CARL NIELSEN

Pan and Syrinx, Opus 49

JEAN SIBELIUS

Concerto in D minor for Violin and Orchestra, Opus 47

I. Allegro moderato

II. Adagio di molto

III. Allegro, ma non tanto

Jinwoo Lee, violin

INTERMISSION

ANNA CLYNE Within Her Arms

PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY

Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy, TH 42, ČW 39

The 2024.25 Classics Series is presented by the UNITED PERFORMING ARTS FUND and ROCKWELL AUTOMATION.

The length of this concert is approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes. All programs are subject to change.

Guest Artist Biographies

JINWOO LEE

Jinwoo Lee, a native of South Korea, began playing the violin at the age of four. He is an international concert violinist with recitals and concerts with orchestras in the U.S., Korea, Germany, Switzerland, Slovenia, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Austria, to name a few.

He is a frequent prizewinner of international competitions, including first prize at the Eric Sorantin Young Artists Competition (2007), second and special prizes at the 20th International Rodolfo Lipizer Violin Competition (2001), special prize at the International Georg Kulenkampff Violin Competition (1999), second, audience, and Bach prizes at the 33rd Tibor Varga International Violin Competition (1999), first and special prizes at the 2nd International Louis Spohr Competition for Young Violinists (1998), first prizes in the solo violin and chamber music categories at the German Jugend musiziert competition (1998), and special prize at the 7th International Yfrah Neaman Competition (1997). He was the winner of the Manhattan School of Music concerto competition (2008) and the Waldo Mayo Memorial Violin Competition (2009). He and his duo partner Eunice Kim were awarded the prize for Best Duo at the 20th International Violin & Piano Masterclasses of the Music Academy of Lausanne, Switzerland (2010).

Lee graduated from the Humboldt Grammar School in Cologne, Germany, in 2001. He studied with Stephen Clapp and Donald Weilerstein at The Juilliard School, where he received his bachelor’s degree in 2006. Two years later, Lee received his master’s degree from The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Robert and Nicholas Mann. He continued his studies with them at the Manhattan School of Music, where he received his Artist Diploma in 2009 and doctoral degree in 2016. His former teachers include Michael Davis, Maria Giesy, Christiane Hutcap, Hyo Kang, Jongsuk Li, Igor Ozim, Jaegwang Song, and Viktor Tretjakov. He has had masterclasses with Pierre Amoyal, Bruno Canino, Pamela Frank, Miriam Fried, Leonidas Kavakos, Masao Kawasaki, Herman Krebbers, Cho-Liang Lin, Martin Lovett, Yfrah Neaman, and Sylvia Rosenberg.

He formerly served as the first concertmaster of the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen in Germany. He was a violin faculty member at the Robert Schumann Musikhochschule in Düsseldorf from 2018 until 2022. In 2023, he was appointed concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.

Program notes by Elaine Schmidt

CARL NIELSEN

Born 9 June 1865; Sortelung, Denmark

Died 3 October 1931; Copenhagen, Denmark

Pan and Syrinx, Opus 49

Composed: January – 6 February 1918

First performance: 11 February 1918; Carl Nielsen, conductor; Copenhagen, Denmark

Last MSO performance: MSO Premiere

Instrumentation: 2 flutes (2nd doubling on piccolo); 2 oboes (2nd doubling on English horn); 2 clarinets; 2 bassoons; 4 horns; 2 trumpets; trombone; timpani; percussion (cymbals, glockenspiel, ratchet, snare drum, tambourine, triangle, xylophone); strings

Approximate duration: 9 minutes

Danish composer, conductor, and violinist Carl Nielsen was born into a poor family, but one that had a deep appreciation for music. Although he became known as a composer and violinist, he began his musical career as an army brass player during his teens. He eventually turned back to the violin and entered Copenhagen’s Royal Danish Academy of Music. He joined the Royal Danish Orchestra at age 24, taking a position in the second violin section. Nielsen went on to become the most respected and famous Danish composer of his time, with his likeness on Danish currency for many years.

Nielsen’s Pan and Syrinx was one of his few ventures into programmatic music. Although we think of tone poems as the purview of the German Romantics, his Pan and Syrinx was dubbed “Debussy-esque” by critics for the French composer’s strong influence on Nielsen’s writing. Debussy had, years earlier, written two pieces based on retellings of the Pan and Syrinx legend: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, for orchestra, and Syrinx for solo flute. But for Nielsen, the piece was more than a tone poem — it bridged the styles of his fourth and fifth symphonies.

Pan and Syrinx, based on the ancient tale of the Greek god Pan and the nymph Syrinx, was written for an all-Nielsen concert scheduled for February 1918. He had found the story while reading Ovid’s Metamorphoses. In the story, Pan, who is smitten with Syrinx, chases her through the forest, terrifying her. Her sisters, seeing what is happening to her, turn her into a reed plant. Pan, frustrated, hears the sound the wind makes as it blows through the reeds and snaps off a few to make musical sounds himself. Hence the birth of the pan flute.

Nielsen procrastinated, not starting the piece until very close to its deadline. He had missed the deadline for a piece he was writing for the previous all-Nielsen concert. Despite the late start, he met this deadline, creating a piece that became a favorite throughout Scandinavia for many years.

JEAN SIBELIUS

Born 8 December 1865; Hämeenlinna, Finland

Died 20 September 1957; Järvenpää, Finland

Concerto in D minor for Violin and Orchestra, Opus 47

Composed: 1903 – 1904; revised 1905

First performance: 8 February 1904 (original version); Jean Sibelius, conductor; Victor Nováček, violin; Helsinki Philharmonic Society; 19 October 1905 (revised version); Richard Strauss, conductor; Karel Halíř, violin; Berlin Court Orchestra

Last MSO performance: 21 September 2019; Ken-David Masur, conductor; Augustin Hadelich, violin

Instrumentation: 2 flutes; 2 oboes; 2 clarinets; 2 bassoons; 4 horns; 2 trumpets; 3 trombones; timpani; strings

Approximate duration: 31 minutes

Finnish composer Jean Sibelius began his musical studies on the piano with his aunt as his teacher. But he proved an exasperating student. Rather than learning the pieces assigned to him, he preferred to improvise at the piano. It was in his teens that he discovered the violin, saying, “When I play, I am filled with a strange feeling; it is as though the insides of the music opened up to me.” He decided that he was meant to be a virtuoso violinist and studied quite seriously until his early 20s, but he had started too late in his life to become a true virtuoso and was crippled by stage fright. He returned to the violin some years later, this time as a composer, not as a performer. The result was one of his finest works, his Violin Concerto in D minor. Sadly, stage fright was not the only issue that plagued Sibelius. He developed an alcohol dependency while he was a student. That, combined with his tendency to spend money far too freely, made it difficult to support his wife and three children and triggered episodes of depression.

Sibelius began his violin concerto with great hopes, in part because a famous German violinist of the time, Willy Burmester, had agreed to play the premiere. But financial problems forced him to move up the premiere date, which meant a lesser violinist would be playing the premiere. Known today as one of the most difficult violin concertos ever written, it proved too much for the replacement violinist, particularly given the short span of time he had to learn it. Although the opening night audience took kindly to it, the Helsinki critic decidedly did not. A dismal review cut audiences dramatically at upcoming performances. Sibelius felt he had no choice but to withdraw the concerto. His wife explained that it was an embarrassment of riches — “too many competing ideas.”

A reworked version of the concerto had a successful performance in 1905, conducted by Richard Strauss. Even so, it wasn’t until 1935, when Jascha Heifetz recorded the piece, that it found a delighted, global audience.

ANNA CLYNE

Born 9 March 1980; London, England

Within Her Arms

Composed: 2008 – 2009

First performance: 7 April 2009; Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor; Los Angeles Philharmonic

Last MSO performance: 6 February 2016; Edo de Waart, conductor

Instrumentation: strings

Approximate duration: 14 minutes

British-born American composer Anna Clyne has made a powerful name for herself in the fields of acoustic and electro-acoustic music. She is known for resonant musical imagery and tremendous musical momentum, combined with explosive bursts of sound and energy, and for occasionally creating a painting of what she wants to express and then translating that painting into a piece of music.

Speaking about her music, which has been called “unabashedly melodic,” Clyne has said, “I think it [melody] is a way to connect human beings. Perhaps a controversial statement is that music is a universal language, but there’s something about melody that connects to the human voice.”

Clyne was working on what she describes as a “chaotic, energetic piece” when she received a call with the news that her mother had died unexpectedly. Within Her Arms, a musical meditation on loss and grief, grew out of that terrible loss.

“I sat at the piano with a candle and a beautiful photo of her from that week,” Clyne has explained. “And I just wrote music over the next 24 hours. It was my instinct to process this by writing music. I felt very close to her through that process of writing. Out of a lot of sorrow came something that I’m able to share with other people.”

Within Her Arms is one of Clyne’s most-often-performed works. She frequently receives comments telling her how deeply listeners have been affected by it.

Clyne’s own program note on the piece includes:

Within Her Arms is music for my mother, Colleen Clyne, with all my love.

Earth will keep you tight within her arms dear one—

So that tomorrow you will be transformed into flowers—

The flower smiling quietly in this morning field—

This morning you will weep no more dear one— For we have gone through too deep a night.

This morning, yes, this morning, I kneel down on the green grass—

And I notice your presence.

Flowers that speak to me in silence.

The message of love and understanding has indeed come.

—Thích Nhất Hạnh

(From “Message” in Call Me By My True Names, 1999, with permission of Parallax Press)

PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY

Born 7 May 1840; Votkinsk, Russia

Died 6 November 1893; Saint Petersburg, Russia

Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy, TH 42, ČW 39

Composed: October – November 1869; revised July – September 1870 and August 1880

First performance: 16 March 1870 (first version); Nikolai Rubinstein, conductor; Russian Musical Society; 17 February 1872 (second version); Eduard Nápravník, conductor; Russian Musical Society; 1 May 1886 (third version); Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, conductor; Russian Musical Society

Last MSO performance: 31 January 2015; James Feddeck, conductor

Instrumentation: 2 flutes; piccolo; 2 oboes; English horn; 2 clarinets; 2 bassoons; 4 horns; 2 trumpets; 3 trombones; tuba; timpani; percussion (bass drum, cymbals); harp; strings

Approximate duration: 19 minutes

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was 29 years old when he wrote his Romeo and Juliet overture, which is often called the Romeo and Juliet concert overture or fantasy-overture. This may not sound terribly young, until you consider that virtually all the pieces of his that we consider famous today had not yet been written. Many would not be written for 20 years. Tchaikovsky was hardly the only composer to turn to the works of Shakespeare for inspiration. The Bard was a brilliant observer of the human condition. In Romeo and Juliet, the facet of the human condition Shakespeare was observing was heartbreak, a topic he already knew quite well. We know that Tchaikovsky was a rather nervous man, likely owing in great part to a closeted lifestyle and tortured relationships.

Tchaikovsky was a gay man living in a society that had no room for gay men. He fell in love with a relative of one of his students, resulting in an affair that went horribly wrong. He also married a woman, hoping to hide his true nature. That, too, went horribly wrong. Romeo and Juliet did not exactly jump off the page for him, either. He made extensive alterations to the piece over a decade, settling on the final version that premiered in 1886, more than 15 years after “completing” the piece and subtitling it “overture-fantasia.”

Three principal themes appear in the piece: the striding pride of the Montagues and Capulets, the families of Romeo and Juliet, respectively; the prophetic words of Friar Laurence, the spiritual advisor to the young lovers; and the sweeping, lush love theme of Romeo and Juliet.

Regardless of how much of the Romeo and Juliet overture had its roots in Shakespeare’s play or in Tchaikovsky’s unhappy life, it remains a favorite of concert audiences. The overture was the first substantial piece of Tchaikovsky’s music to enter the concert repertoire. He would go on to write symphonies, operas, ballets, concertos, choral pieces, and chamber music, as well as songs and piano pieces. All of his music exhibited the same melodic brilliance found in his Romeo and Juliet.

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VIVALDI’S THE FOUR SEASONS

Friday, January 31, 2025 at 7:30 pm

Saturday, February 1, 2025 at 7:30 pm

Sunday, February 2, 2025 at 2:30 pm

ALLEN-BRADLEY HALL

Rachell Ellen Wong, violin & leader

David Belkovski, harpsichord & leader

HENRY PURCELL

Suite for the Theatre

Curtain Tune from Timon of Athens, Z. 632

Overture to King Arthur, Z. 628

Hornpipe from The Fairy Queen, Z. 629

Air from Amphitryon, Z. 572

Scotch Tune from Amphitryon, Z. 572

Bourrée from Amphitryon, Z. 572

Hornpipe from Amphitryon, Z. 572

JEAN-PHILLIPPE RAMEAU

Suite théâtrale

Air tendre from Les fêtes d’Hébé, RCT 41

Overture to Zoroastre, RCT 62

Musette from Les fêtes d’Hébé, RCT 41

Contredanse from Les surprises de l’Amour, RCT 58

Loure from Les surprises de l’Amour, RCT 58

Prélude pour l’Adoration du Soleil from Les Indes galantes, RCT 44

Entrée de Polymnie from Les Boréades, RCT 31

Chaconne from Dardanus, RCT 35

Tambourins I & II from Dardanus, RCT 35

INTERMISSION

Continued on page 46

VIVALDI’S THE FOUR SEASONS

Continued from page 45

ANTONIO VIVALDI

Le quattro stagioni [The Four Seasons] for Violin and Orchestra, Opus 8, Nos. 1-4

Concerto in F minor, RV 297 “L’inverno” [Winter]

I. Allegro con molto

II. Largo

III. Allegro

Concerto in E major, RV 269, “La primavera” [Spring]

I. Allegro

II. Largo

III. Danza pastorale. Allegro

Concerto in F major, RV 293, “L’autunno” [Fall]

I. Allegro

II. Adagio molto

III. Allegro

Concerto in G minor, RV 315, “L’estate” [Summer]

I. Allegro con molto

II. Adagio e piano – Presto e forte

III. Presto

Rachell Ellen Wong, violin & leader

The 2024.25 Classics Series is presented by the UNITED PERFORMING ARTS FUND and ROCKWELL AUTOMATION

The length of this concert is approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes. All programs are subject to change.

Guest Artist Biographies

RACHELL ELLEN WONG

Violinist Rachell Ellen Wong made history in 2020 when she was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, becoming the only Baroque artist to receive the honor. Her exceptional blend of technical virtuosity on gut strings, expressive musicianship, and understanding of period performance practices has garnered international critical acclaim and a dedicated following. Named “most approachable virtuoso” by the New York Classical Review, Wong has appeared as a soloist across six continents and has established herself as one of the leading historical performers of her generation, collaborating with esteemed ensembles such as the Academy of Ancient Music, Jupiter Ensemble, Bach Collegium Japan,

The English Concert, and Ruckus, among others. Equally accomplished on the modern violin, Rachell made her first public appearance with Philharmonia Northwest at age 11 and has since performed as a soloist with orchestras such as the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Seattle Symphony. Wong also teaches for the Valley of the Moon Music Festival in Sonoma, California.

Wong’s recent appearances include performances with the New World Symphony, Camerata Pacifica, The Kronberg Festival, Ilumina Festival in São Paulo, Reno Chamber Orchestra, The Northwest Sinfonietta, and The Rome Chamber Music Festival. Alongside the exceptional conductor and keyboardist David Belkovski, Wong is co-founder of Twelfth Night. Founded in 2021, Twelfth Night’s engagements include Early Music at Carnegie Hall, Cal Performances at U.C. Berkeley, Caramoor, Chatham Baroque, Arizona Early Music, San Diego Early Music, and Friends of Chamber Music Kansas City. Twelfth Night is also the ensemble in residence for Early Music Seattle.

Among her many awards, Wong was the Grand Prize winner of the inaugural Lillian and Maurice Barbash J.S. Bach Competition. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, Wong attended The University of Texas at Austin, Indiana University, and The Juilliard School, where she was a Kovner Fellowship recipient. Wong performs on a Baroque violin from the school of Joachim Tielke, built circa 1700, and a modern violin made in 1953 by Carlo de March. She currently resides in New York City with her two bunnies. For more information about Wong, please visit her website at www.rachellwong.com.

Lucien Knuteson Photography

Guest Artist Biographies

DAVID BELKOVSKI

Born in Skopje, Macedonia, David Belkovski’s journey as a musician has taken him from early ventures into Balkan folk music to the vibrant beginnings of a career as a conductor, soloist, and continuist. Recognized for his vivid programming and interpretations, Belkovski has directed the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Juilliard415, New World Symphony, and Les Violons du Roy. Belkovski’s recent appearances at the Norfolk, Ryedale, and Aix-en-Provence festivals showcased the breadth of his musical talents.

Performing regularly on harpsichord, fortepiano, and modern piano, Belkovski has been awarded first prize in several international and national competitions, including the 2019 Sfzp International Fortepiano Competition, earning him praise for his artistry on both historical and modern keyboards. Belkovski has built strong relationships with some of early music’s most notable directors, serving as assistant conductor to Richard Egarr, Raphaël Pichon, and John Butt; preparing orchestras for William Christie; and as an English Concert fellow to Harry Bicket. Notably, Belkovski held the position of assistant conductor of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra.

Alongside international prize-winning violinist Rachell Ellen Wong, Belkovski founded Twelfth Night, a period-instrument ensemble based in New York City. Twelfth Night marked a significant milestone in 2024, making their Carnegie Hall debut with an electrifying operatic showcase featuring Julie Roset and Xenia Puskarz Thomas. Twelfth Night is currently the ensemble-inresidence for Seattle Early Music.

Continuo playing is a cherished part of Belkovski’s creative activity. His recent collaborations include the acclaimed Belgian vocal ensemble, Vox Luminis; the French chamber group, Jupiter Ensemble; and New York’s Trinity Baroque Orchestra.

In addition to performing, Belkovski’s compositions include a commission by Juilliard415. As an instructor, Belkovski coaches vocalists at The Juilliard School and teaches courses and workshops on subjects ranging from continuo performance to historical pedagogy. Belkovski is the recipient of the Robert A. and Patricia S. Levinson Award, the first to receive the fellowship in the field of early music.

Program notes by David Jensen

The 17th century was something of a watershed in the trajectory of Europe’s musical and intellectual development. With the inception of the first public opera house in Venice in 1637 (the same year that saw the publication of René Descartes’ Discourse on the Method), the earliest iteration of the modern orchestra had found its home not just at the courts of the aristocracy, but in the theater. The emerging hegemony of instrumental music met with a renewed interest in the literary narratives of classical antiquity, and with a wealthy ruling class subsidizing their efforts, composers began developing works on a scale inconceivable a century prior, resulting in the burgeoning stylistic diversity of the Baroque theater.

HENRY PURCELL

Born c. 1659; London, England

Died 21 November 1695; London, England

Suite for the Theatre

Composed: 1690 – 1695

Last MSO performance: MSO Premiere

Instrumentation: bassoon; harpsichord; 2 theorbos (1st doubling on guitar); strings

Approximate duration: 11 minutes

Hailed as Orpheus Britannicus, Henry Purcell’s talent lay in molding foreign musical customs into a distinctly English idiom. His father, who sang at the coronation of Charles II, died in 1664, and his uncle Thomas saw to it that Henry received a proper musical education. Thomas arranged for Henry’s admittance to the Chapel Royal, where he began composing — the publication of a song in three-part counterpoint at the age of eight suggests a prodigious talent. He was subsequently granted an apprenticeship to John Hingeston, keeper of the king’s keyboard instruments, and was charged with tuning the organ at Westminster Abbey and copying music. By 1682, he was appointed organist at both Westminster and the Chapel Royal, securing his position as a composer of repute.

With the restoration of Charles II to the throne in 1660, the staunch Puritanism that had prevailed in England for more than a decade subsided, and the theaters, much to the delight of the public, were reopened. Opera was then neither fashionable nor practical to produce in London, leaving Purcell effectively stymied, although he wrote incidental music for about a half dozen plays throughout the 1680s. It was in the last five years of his life that he composed the bulk of his music for the stage, including his “semi-operas,” principally due to his collaborations with England’s first Poet Laureate, John Dryden, who provided the text for Amphitryon, based on the Greek mythological figure, and King Arthur The Fairy Queen and Timon of Athens were both adaptations of Shakespeare, whose work never fell from favor among the British Isles.

JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU

Born 25 September 1683; Dijon, France

Died 12 September 1764; Paris, France

Suite théâtrale

Composed: 1739 – 1763

Last MSO performance: MSO Premiere

Instrumentation: 2 flutes (both doubling on piccolo); 2 oboes; 2 bassoons; 2 horns; harpsichord; 2 theorbos (1st doubling on guitar); percussion; strings

Approximate duration: 24 minutes

Across the pond, French composers had successfully imported the Italian operatic tradition and were producing utterly lavish theatrical works during their Grand Siècle. As a child, JeanPhilippe Rameau entered the Jesuit Collège des Godrans to pursue law, but his disinclination to study (and corollary insistence on composing) resulted in his expulsion. His parents relented and sent him to Milan. He secured a succession of posts as an organist throughout France before ultimately settling in Paris around 1722. One of his most important contributions to the discipline was undoubtedly his Traité de l’harmonie (“Treatise on Harmony”), a revolutionary volume that articulated an understanding of music as an acoustic science, codifying the principles of tonal harmony for generations to come. In 1726, he met the wealthy tax collector Alexandre Le Riche de La Pouplinière, whose private orchestra he would conduct for 22 years. From 1732 onward, his creative endeavors were split between his theoretical dissertations and his operas, upon which his reputation ultimately rests. As an instrumentalist, Rameau had distinguished himself as a master of musical gesture; the dance rhythms that permeated every aspect of Baroque music, along with his highly refined sense of ornamentation and dramatic timing, yielded harmonically innovative music which effused that sense of “right reason” so ardently admired during the Enlightenment. His first foray into opera, at the age of 50, was the tragédie en musique (“musical tragedy”) Hippolyte et Aricie, a result of his introduction to playwright Simon-Joseph Pellegrin by his benefactor. Pellegrin contributed the libretti both to Hippolyte and the enduringly popular Les Indes galantes, an opéra-ballet set in the “Indies” (a generic term that meant little more than an exotic land). Dardanus, Les fêtes d’Hébé, Les surprises de l’Amour, and Les Boréades each drew inspiration from Greek mythology, while Zoroastre, as an allegory for Freemasonry, took its narrative cue from Persian theology.

Program notes by Elaine Schmidt

ANTONIO VIVALDI

Born 4 March 1678; Venice, Italy

Died 28 July 1741; Vienna, Austria

Le quattro stagioni [The Four Seasons] for Violin and Orchestra, Opus 8, Nos. 1-4

Composed: 1718 – 1720

First performance: Unknown; first publication in 1725

Last MSO performance: 17 March 2019; Yaniv Dinur, conductor; Jeanyi Kim, Timothy Klabunde, Ilana Setapen, and Jennifer Startt, violin

Instrumentation: harpsichord; strings

Approximate duration: 37 minutes

Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi, who was nicknamed “the red priest” thanks to his mane of curly red hair and the fact that he was an ordained Catholic priest, was a contemporary of J.S. Bach. The two composers shared several attributes, including the extraordinary amount of music they both wrote, the brilliance of that music, and the fact that they were very devout in their faiths. Their legacies are also similar, but for a fact that is hard for us to understand today. Bach published very little of his music, while Vivaldi published a great deal of his. Despite that similarity, both fell rather dramatically out of fashion as the Baroque era gave way to the Classical. Once the elegant, progressive music of the likes of Mozart caught the ears of the public, the interest in earlier music all but disappeared. Bach’s music resurfaced in the mid-1800s thanks to composer Felix Mendelssohn and his sister, Fanny. But Vivaldi’s music remained in the shadows until the 1950s — more than a century after Bach’s music was reintroduced to the public.

In 1926, a group of monks in Turin, Italy, contacted a local musicologist to ask him what price he thought they should pay for a collection of “old music” that had been found in their library. Among other treasures, the crates contained hundreds of pieces by Vivaldi, including concertos, operas, sacred choral works, sonatas, and more, all long presumed lost. The story continues with some of Vivaldi’s music turning up in a private collection and some of it experiencing near misses in World War II bombing raids. In 1947, a Carnegie Hall concert featured portions of The Four Seasons, followed by an all-Vivaldi series in 1951. Today, Vivaldi is considered one of the world’s most famous composers, thanks in part to the more than 2,000 recordings of his music, all of which have been made in and after the 1950s.

The jaw-dropping story of the rediscovery of Vivaldi’s music certainly adds to the delight of hearing it today. It also explains why musicologists are more than willing to crawl around in dusty attics, castles, and libraries in search of the next motherlode of forgotten, but soon-to-befamous, music.

Vivaldi intended The Four Seasons to be performed in seasonal order, beginning with spring. Supporting his ahead-of-its-time idea of program music, he wrote a sonnet for each of the seasons. The sonnets appear in the MSO’s The Language of Song, providing a road map of sorts for the concertos. They can be accessed at mso.org/concerts/program_notes/ should you want to follow along during the concert. Please remember to silence your device.

La primavera [Spring]

Allegro

Spring, and along with it the entire series of concertos, opens with the sounds of birds, interrupted by a thunderstorm. The storm ends, allowing the birds to take up their songs again.

Largo

In a flower-filled meadow, shaded by tree branches swaying in the breeze, a goat-herd naps with his dog beside him.

Allegro

Nymphs and shepherds dance merrily to the sounds of bagpipes, reveling in the fresh greenery and brilliant colors of spring.

L’estate [Summer]

Allegro con molto

The sun beats relentlessly on drowsy shepherds and their flocks and on the parched pines nearby. Once again, the listener hears birds, this time the cuckoo, turtle dove, and finch. A delicate breeze is suddenly pushed aside by gusts of cold wind from the north, frightening the shepherds and threatening heavy weather on the way.

Adagio e piano — presto e forte

Wide awake, beneath the violence of lightning and thunder, the shepherds are surrounded by buzzing flies and gnats.

Presto

The north wind keeps its promise as the heavens open and pelt the shepherds and their flocks with hail.

L’autunno [Autumn]

Allegro

Peasants celebrate the finish of the harvest, with wine flowing freely.

Adagio molto

As the singing and dancing gradually give way to the night, the peasants enjoy cool breezes, eventually falling into deep, contented sleep.

Allegro

Dawn brings the hunt, complete with dogs, horn, and related pandemonium. Hunters chase the harried prey until, injured and terrified, it dies.

L’inverno [Winter]

Allegro con molto

Snow and biting cold winds have people shivering, moving at a run, stamping their feet, and chattering their teeth.

Largo

Some people rest contentedly beside a cozy hearth, while those who are outside find themselves drenched by a cold pouring rain.

Allegro

Vivaldi turns to writing in first person here, describing how he and others are mincing along an icy path, quite afraid of falling. When the inevitable fall occurs, Vivaldi and his companions hurry to get back to their feet and then hurry to get clear of the ice. He describes, once back home, the feeling of frigid winds making their way through locked and bolted doors, yet he ends the sonnet with, “This is winter — but one with joy.”

HEROES: A VIDEO GAME SYMPHONY

Saturday, February 8, 2024 at 7:30 pm

ALLEN-BRADLEY HALL

Ryan Tani, conductor

Nigel Carrington, narrator

Members of the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

JEREMY SOULE/orch. Robert Puff

Oblivion: Opening

Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

AUSTIN WINTORY/orch. Andy Brick

Journey

JACK WALL/orch. Robert Puff

Mass Effect 2: Suicide Mission

Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

LEIF CHAPELLE, MACLAINE DIEMER, STAN LEPARD, AND JEREMY SOULE Guild Wars 2

Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

GARRY SCHYMAN/arr. Robert Puff

BioShock: Scherzo No. 7/Welcome to Rapture

NEAL ACREE, RUSSELL BROWER, DEREK DUKE, AND MATT UELMEN /arr. Aruto Matsumoto

Suite from Diablo: Symphony of the Storm

JESPER KYD/arr. Benoit Grey

Suite from Assassin’s Creed: Ezio’s Family

TYLER BATES/orch. Robert Puff

God of War: Ascension

Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH, ANDY BRICK, AND MIKE MORASKY /orch. Andy Brick and Geoff Knorr

Portal 2 Variations

Continued on page 54

Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

HEROES: A VIDEO GAME SYMPHONY

TAPPY IWASE/orch. Shota Nakama

Metal Gear Solid 4: Metal Gear Saga

Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

JASON HAYES/orch. Adam Klemens

Suite from World of Warcraft

I. Stormwind

II. Song of Elune

III. Legacy

IV. Legends of Azeroth

Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

INON ZUR/orch. Paul D. Taylor

Medley from Starfield

AUDREY ASHBURN AND INON ZUR/orch. Paul D. Taylor

Dragon Age: I Am The One

OSCAR ARAUJO, MASAHIRO IKARIKO, KENICHI MATSUBARA, KINUYO YAMASHITA, AND MICHIRU YAMANE/arr. Chad Seiter and orch. Chad and Susie Seiter Suite from Castlevania

KOW OTANI/orch. Nic Raine

Shadow of the Colossus

Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

INON ZUR/orch. Paul D. Taylor

Main Theme from Fallout 4

MARTY O’DONNELL AND MICHAEL SALVATORI/arr. and orch. Andy Brick, Marty O’Donnell, Arnie Roth, and Michael Salvatori Medley from Halo

Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

JEREMY SOULE/orch. Larry Kenton Elder Scrolls V — Skyrim: Dragonborn

INON ZUR/orch. Paul D. Taylor

Main Theme from Rise of the Ronin

Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

Produced by JMP ENTERTAINMENT | Booking by JMP ENTERTAINMENT | Created by JMP ENTERTAINMENT | Music Director – Kevin Zakresky | Technical Services - Black Ink Presents

The length of this concert is approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes. All programs are subject to change.

Guest Artist Biographies

JASON MICHAEL PAUL

A pioneer and leader in the live symphonic concert industry, Jason Michael Paul produces and promotes concerts for leading international artists, including a series of live symphonic concerts that make music come to life. Paul — the producer and creator of the first stateside Final Fantasy concerts, The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary concerts, The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses concerts, and founder of JMP Entertainment — envisioned the Heroes experience to take audience members on a hero’s journey, as set forth by Joseph Campbell’s monomyth — a narrative framework that can be seen in many of the games, films, and books throughout history. Each stage in the monomyth is a chapter in our story, and each musical selection was chosen primarily for its suitability in the chapter where it is featured. Everyone’s story is the story of a hero, told through the amazing worlds of other heroes, in an unforgettable experience that is not to be missed.

JMP Entertainment is celebrating its 20th anniversary since its inaugural video game music concert series, Dear Friends: Music from Final Fantasy. Paul has produced over 300 video game music concerts since the first stateside performance in 2004. A seasoned concert producer known for staging concerts worldwide, Paul realized that if philharmonic regulars set aside their preconceived notions about gaming culture, they could appreciate the rich musical virtuosity and magic of video game soundtracks. His vision was spot-on, and he has created a global phenomenon over the past two decades.

Paul has produced concerts all over the world for artists and companies such as Luciano Pavarotti, The Three Tenors, Elton John, Foo Fighters, Outkast, Michael McDonald, James Ingram, Patti Austin, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Tokyo Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Utah Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, Nintendo, Sony Computer Entertainment America, Bethesda, Square Enix, Konami, Electronic Arts, Disney, National Geographic, Madison Square Garden Network, PBS, LiveNation, AEG, and Nederlander.

NIGEL CARRINGTON

Nigel Carrington is a British actor with vast experience in theater, television, film, radio, voice acting, and audiobook narration. He provided multiple voices for Harry Potter for Kinect and appeared in Benedict Cumberbatch’s Hamlet at The Barbican Theatre London. His work in Dear Esther remains one of his most recognizable roles to date. It earned him a BAFTA nomination for Best Performer.

Just as Carrington narrates the player through Dear Esther, he will voice our symphony experience with Heroes: A Video Game Symphony. His narration is accompanied by music from Dear Esther composed by Jessica Curry.

Did you know ticket sales only cover 30% of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s budget? That’s where generous patrons like you step in. Your tax-deductible donation to the annual fund makes a world of difference. It ensures the MSO can continue bringing live orchestral music to our community.

Simply scan the QR code or use any of the ways listed below to make a secure contribution. Every dollar counts, big or small.

Your gift helps Wisconsin’s largest performing arts organization keep the music alive. Thank you for your continued support!

VISIONARIES

Commitments of $1,000,000 and above

One Anonymous Donor

Jane Bradley Pettit

Charles and Marie Caestecker

Concertmaster Chair

Ellen and Joe Checota

Herzfeld Foundation

Krause Family Principal Horn Chair

Dr. Keith Austin Larson

Principal Organ Chair

Dr. Brent and Susan Martin

Phyllis and Harleth Pubanz

Gertrude M. Puelicher Education Fund

Michael and Jeanne Schmitz President and Executive Director Chair

John and Judith Simonitsch Tuba Chair

Stein Family Foundation

Principal Pops Conductor Chair

John Stewig

Polly and Bill Van Dyke

Music Director Chair

James E. Van Ess

Principal Librarian Chair

Thora M. Vervoren

First Associate Concertmaster Chair

The Family of Evonne Winston and Paul Nausieda

PHILANTHROPISTS

Commitments of $500,000 and above

Donald B. Abert Principal Bass Chair

Mr. Richard Blomquist

Patrice L. (Patti) Bringe

Margaret and Roy Butter

Principal Flute Chair

Donald and Judy Christl

Fred Fuller Trumpet Chair

Douglas M. Hagerman

Andrea and Woodrow Leung Principal Second Violin Chair and Fred Fuller

Dorothea C. Mayer Principal Cello Chair

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra League Principal Oboe Chair

Northwestern Mutual Foundation

Melitta S. Pick Endowed Piano Chair

Walter L. Robb Family Principal Trumpet Chair

Robert T. Rolfs Foundation

Gertrude Elser and John Edward

Schroeder Guest Artist Fund

Walter Schroeder Foundation

Principal Harp Chair

Muriel C. and John D. Silbar

Family Principal Bassoon Chair

Marjorie Tiefenthaler

Principal Trombone Chair

Richard O. and Judith A. Wagner Family

Principal Viola Chair

BENEFACTORS

Commitments of $100,000 and above

Four Anonymous Donors

Patty and Jay Baker

Fund for Guest Artists

Mr. and Mrs. Frederick J.O. Blachly

Philip Blank English Horn Chair in memoriam to John Martin and his favorite cousin, Beatrice Blank

Judith and Stanton Bluestone

Estate of Lloyd Broehm

Louise Cattoi, in memory of David and Angela Cattoi

Lynn Chappy Salon Series

Terry J. Dorr and Michael Holloway

Elizabeth Elser Doolittle

Charitable Trust

Franklyn Esenberg

Principal Clarinet Chair

David L. Harrison Endowment for Music Education

Estate of Sally Hennen

Karen Hung and Robert Coletti

Richard M. Kimball

Bass Trombone Chair

William Randolph Hearst Foundation

Judy and Gary Jorgensen

Judith A. Keyes MSOL Docent Fund

Charles A. Krause

Donald and JoAnne Krause Music

Education Endowment Fund

Martin J. Krebs

Co-Principal Trumpet Chair

Laskin Family Foundation

Charles and Barbara Lund

Marcus Corporation Foundation

Guest Artist Fund

Annette Marra

Susan and Brent Martin

Christian and Kate Mitchell

William and Marian Nasgovitz

Andy Nunemaker French Horn Chair

John and Elizabeth Ogden

Gordana and Milan Racic

The Erika Richman MSO-MYSO Reading Workshop Fund

Pat and Allen Rieselbach

Friends of Janet F. Ruggeri

Assistant Principal Viola Chair

Allison M. & Dale R. Smith Percussion Fund

Estate of Walter S. Smolenski, Jr.

Bert L. & Patricia S. Steigleder Charitable Trust

Donald B. and Ruth P. Taylor

Assistant Principal Clarinet Chair

Mrs. William D. Vogel

Barbara and Ted Wiley

Jack Winter Guest Artist Fund

Fern L. Young

Endowment Fund for Guest Artists

MUSICAL LEGACY SOCIETY

The Musical Legacy Society recognizes and appreciates the individuals who have made a planned gift to the MSO.

The MSO invites you to join these generous donors who have remembered the Orchestra in their estate plans.

Eight Anonymous Donors

George R. Affeldt

Dana and Gail Atkins

Robert Balderson

Bruce and Margaret Barr

Adam Bauman

Priscilla and Anthony Beadell

Mr. F. L. Bidinger

Dr. Philip and Beatrice Blank

Mr. Richard Blomquist

Judith and Stanton Bluestone

Patrice L. (Patti) Bringe

Jean S. Britt

Laurette Broehm

Neil Brooks

Anthony and Vicki Cecalupo

Lynn Chappy

Ellen and Joe Checota

Donald and Judy Christl

Mary E. and James M. Connelly

Jo Ann Corrao

Lois Ellen Debbink

Mary Ann Delzer

Robert C. and Lois K. Dittus

Julie Doneis

Terry Dorr and Michael Holloway

Donn Dresselhuys

Beth and Ted Durant

Rosemarie Eierman

Franklyn Esenberg

John and Sue Esser

JoAnn Falletta

Donald L. Feinsilver, M.D.

Susie and Robert Fono

Ruth and John Fredericks

Mr. and Mrs. E. G. Goldsmith

Brett Goodman

Roberta Gordon

Marta P. and Doyne M. Haas

Douglas M. Hagerman

Ms. Jean I. Hamann

Ms. Sybille Hamilton

Kristin A. Hansen

David L. Harrison

Judy Harrison

Cheryl H. and Roy L. Hauswirth

Cliff Heise

Sidney and Suzanne Herszenson

Dr. and Mrs. Samuel Hoke

Glenda Holm

Jean and Charles Holmburg

Karen Hung and Robert Coletti

Myra Huth

William and Janet Isbister

Lee and Barbara Jacobi

Leon and Betsy Janssen

Marilyn W. John

Faith L. Johnson

Mary G. Johnson

Jayne J. Jordan

Judy and Gary Jorgensen

Debra Jupka

James A. and Robin S. Kasch

Howard Kaspin

James H. Keyes

Judith A. Keyes

Richard and Sarah Kimball

Mary Krall

JoAnne and Donald Krause

Musical Legacy Society/Annual Fund

Martin J. and Alice Krebs

Ronald and Vicki Krizek

Cynthia Krueger-Prost

Steven E. Landfried

Mr. Bruce R. Laning

Victor Larson

Tom and Lise Lawson

Andrea and Woodrow Leung

Mr. Robert D. Lidicker

Mr. and Mrs. John B. Liebenstein

Drs. John and Theresa Liu

Dr. John and Kristie Malone

Dana and Jeff Marks

Steven and Mary Rose Marinkovich

Ms. Kathleen Marquardt

Susan and Brent Martin

JoAnne Matchette

Rita T. and James C. McDonald

Patricia and James McGavock

Nancy McGiveran

Nancy McKinley-Ehlinger

Mrs. Christel U. Mildenberg

Christian and Kate Mitchell

Joan Moeller

Ms. Melodi Muehlbauer

Robert Mulcahy

Kathleen M. Murphy

Andy Nunemaker

Diana and Gerald Ogren

Lynn and Lawrence Olsen

Mr. and Mrs. Philip W. Orth

Lygere Panagopoulos

Jamshed and Deborah Patel

Gerald T. and Carol K. Petersen

Mr. and Mrs. Ronald R. Poe

Julie Quinlan Brame and Jason Brame

Ms. Harvian Raasch-Hooten

Christine Radiske and Herbert Quigley

Steve and Susan Ragatz

Catherine A. Regner

Pat and David Rierson

Pat and Allen Rieselbach

Dr. Thomas and Mary Roberts

Roger B. Ruggeri and Andrea K. Wagoner

Nina Sarenac

Mary B. Schley in recognition of David L. Schley

Dr. Robert and Patty Schmidt

Michael J. and Jeanne E. Schmitz

James and Kathleen Scholler

Charitable Fund

James Schultz and Donna Menzer

Mason Sherwood and Mark Franke

John and Judith Simonitsch

Margles Singleton

Lois Bernard and William Small

Dale and Allison Smith

Susan G. Stein

John Stewig and Richard Bradley

Dr. Robert A. and Kathleen Sullo

Terry Burko and David Taggart

Lois Tetzlaff

E. Charlotte Theis

James E. Van Ess

Thora Vervoren

Dr. Richard O. and Judith A. Wagner

Veronica Wallace-Kraemer

Michael Walton

Brian A. Warnecke

Earl Wasserman

Alice Weiss

Carol and James Wiensch

Rolland and Sharon Wilson

Floyd Woldt

Sandra and Ross Workman

For more information on becoming a Musical Legacy Society member, please contact the Advancement Office at 414-226-7891.

ANNUAL FUND

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra truly values the music lovers in the concert hall, and we thank our contributors to the Annual Fund for investing their time and support in this treasure. We gratefully acknowledge the contributions to the Annual Fund as of November 11, 2024.

CONDUCTOR CIRCLE

$100,000 and above

Clair and Mary Baum

Ellen and Joe Checota

David Herro and Jay Franke

Mr. and Mrs. George C. Kaiser

Donald and JoAnne Krause

Marty Krebs

Sheldon and Marianne Lubar Charitable Fund of the Lubar Family Foundation

Drs. Alan and Carol Pohl

Michael Schmitz

Julia and David Uihlein

$50,000 and above

Laura and Mike Arnow

Evonne Winston

$25,000 and above

One Anonymous Donor

Bobbi and Jim Caraway

Anthony and Vicki Cecalupo

Mr. and Mrs. Franklyn Esenberg

Mrs. Susan G. Gebhardt

Doug Hagerman

Judith A. Keyes

Robert and Gail Korb

Dr. Brent and Susan Martin

Thomas Sherman

Drs. George and Christine Sosnovsky

Charitable Trust

Drs. Robert Taylor and Janice McFarland Taylor

Thora Vervoren

James and Sue Wiechmann

$15,000 and above

One Anonymous Donor

Marilyn and John Breidster

Elaine Burke

Mary and James Connelly

Dr. Deborah and Jeff Costakos

Mrs. Alyce Coyne Katayama

Barbara and Harry L. Drake

George E. Forish, Jr.

Roberta Gordon and Allen Young

Jewish Community Foundation

Eileen and Howard Dubner Donor Advised Fund

Judy and Gary Jorgensen

Kim and Nancy Graff

Drs. Carla and Robert Hay

Charles and Barbara Lund

Maureen McCabe

Christian and Kate Mitchell

Lois and Richard Pauls

Pat Rieselbach

Brian M. Schwellinger

Sara and Jay Schwister

Allison M. and Dale R. Smith

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas R. Tiffany

Haruki Toyama

Alice Weiss

$10,000 and above

Three Anonymous Donors

Dr. Rita Bakalars

Richard and JoAnn Beightol

Ara and Valerie Cherchian

Jennifer Dirks

Jack Douthitt and Michelle Zimmer

Bruce T. Faure M.D.

Mary Lou M. Findley

The Paul & Connie Flagg Family Charitable Fund

Elizabeth and William Genne

Judith J. Goetz

Stephanie and Steve Hancock

Dr. and Mrs. Samuel Hoke

Barbara Karol

Christine Krueger

Geraldine Lash

Mr. Peter L. Mahler

Mark and Donna Metzendorf

Dr. Mary Ellen Mitchanis

Bob and Barbara Monnat

Patrick and Mary Murphy

Andy Nunemaker

Brian and Maura Packham

Julie Peay

Ellen Rohwer Pappas and Timothy Pappas

Leslie and Aaron Plamann

Richard V. Poirier

Christine Radiske and Herbert Quigley

Lynn and Craig Schmutzer

Nancy and Greg Smith

Pamela Stampen

Mrs. George Walcott

Tracy S. Wang, MD

Diana J. Wood

Herbert Zien and Elizabeth Levins

PRINCIPAL CIRCLE

$5,000 and above

Five Anonymous Donors

Anthony and Kathie Asmuth

Fred and Kay Austermann

Thomas Bagwell and Michelle Hiebert

Robert Balderson

Natalie Beckwith

Lois Bernard

Richard and Kay Bibler

Nancy Vrabec and Alastair Boake

William and Barbara Boles

Suzy and John Brennan

Mary and Terry Briscoe

Roger Byhardt

Chris and Katie Callen

Donald and Judy Christl

Sandra and Russell Dagon

Karen Dobbs and Chris DeNardis

Mrs. William T. Dicus

Joanne Doehler

Jacquelyn and Dalibor Drummer

Beth and Ted Durant

Dr. Eric Durant and Scott Swickard

Dr. and Mrs. Harry A. Easom

Elizabeth and Herodotos Ellinas

Dr. Donald Feinsilver and JoAnn Corrao

Beth and Jim Fritz

Alison Graf and Richard Schreiner

Jean and Thomas Harbeck

Family Foundation

James and Crystal Hegge

Ms. Mary E. Henke

Mark and Judy Hibbard

Peg and Mark Humphrey

Lee and Barbara Jacobi

Leon Janssen

Jayne J. Jordan

Lynn and Tom Kassouf

Benedict and Lee Kordus

Alysandra and Dave Lal

Peter and Kathleen Lillegren

Gerald and Elaine Mainman

Dr. Ann H. and Mr. Michael J. McDonald

John and Linda Mellowes

Mr. and Mrs. George Meyer

Judith Fitzgerald Miller

Rusti and Steve Moffic

William J. Murgas

Mark Niehaus

Barbara and Layton Olsen

Elaine Pagedas

Sharon and James Petrie

Dr. and Mrs. Richard A. Pierce-Ruhland

Jim and Fran Proulx

Jerome Randall and Mary Hauser

Dr. Donna Recht and Dr. Robert Newby

Dr. Marcia J.S. Richards

Steve and Fran Richman

Pat and David Rierson

Roger Ritzow

Dr. Thomas and Mary Roberts

Gayle G. Rosemann and Paul E. McElwee

Patricia and Ronald Santilli

Mr. Thomas P. Schweda

Lynne Shaner

Joan Spector

Carlton Stansbury

Mr. and Mrs. Roland E. Strampe

Bob and Betty Streng

Jim Strey

John and Karen Tomashek

Mrs. James Urdan

Mr. and Mrs. Francis Wasielewski

Nora and Jude Werra

Janet Wilgus

Mr. and Mrs. Donald S. Wilson

Jessica R. Wirth

Mr. Wilfred Wollner

$3,500 and above

Dr. Philip and the spirit of Beatrice Blank

Mr. David E. Cadle

Steven and Buffy Duback

Stan and Janet Fox

Debby Ganaway

Kurt and Rosemary Glaisner

Margarete and David Harvey

Drs. Margie Boyles and Stephen Hinkle

Barbara Hunt

David and Mel Johnson

Olof Jonsdottir and Thorsteinn Skulason

Megumi Kanda Hemann and Dietrich Hemann

Stanley Kritzik

Norm and Judy Lasca

Dr. Joseph and Amy Leung

Ann Rosenthal and Benson Massey

Judy and Tom Schmid

James Schultz and Donna Menzer

Greg and Marybeth Shuppe

Richard and Sheryl Smith

Roger and Judy Smith

Sue and Boo Smith

James and Catherine Startt

Corinthia Van Orsdol and Donald Petersen

Jim Ward

Larry and Adrienne Waters

Carol and Richard Wythes

Sandra Zingler

Leo Zoeller

ORCHESTRA CIRCLE

$2,000 and above

Seven Anonymous Donors

Donald and Jantina Adriano

Drs. Helmut and Sandra Ammon

Dr. Joan Arvedson

Richard and Sara Aster

Mark and Laura Barnard

Bruce and Maggie Barr

Priscilla and Anthony Beadell

Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Beckman

Jacqlynn Behnke

Roger J. Bialcik

Marlene and Bert Bilsky

Scott Bolens and Elizabeth Forman

Virginia Bolger

Dr. and Mrs. Squat Botley

Walter and Virginia Boyer

Cheri and Tom Briscoe

Marcia P. Brooks and Edward J. Hammond

Teri Carpenter

Mr. and Mrs. Stephen L. Chernof

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas F. Christie

Lynda and Tom Curl

Larry and Eileen Dean

Paul Dekker

Ms. Nancy A. Desjardins

Chris Dillie

Sigrid Dynek and Barry Axelrood

Donald Elliott

Signe and Gerald Emmerich, Jr.

Shirley Erwin

Joseph and Joan Fall

Mr. and Mrs. A. William Finke

Anne and Dean Fitzgerald

Jo Ann and Dale Frederickson

Allan and Mary Ellen Froehlich

Timothy Gerend

Jane K. Gertler

Pearl Mary Goetsch

Karleen Haberichter

Ginny Hall

Dale and Sara Harmelink

Judith and David Hecker

Robert Hey

Charles and Jean Holmburg

Howard and Susan Hopwood

Robert S. Jakubiak

Pauline and Thomas Jeffers

Marilyn W. John

Candice and David Johnstone

Matthew and Kathryn Kamm

Dr. Bruce and Anna Kaufman

Dr. Jack and Myrna Kaufman

Dr. and Mrs. Kim

Mr. and Mrs. F. Michael Kluiber

Maritza and Mario Laguna

Ian and Katherine Lambert

Drs. Kaye and Prakash Laud

Mr. and Mrs. Mark Levy

Tom Lindow

Frank Loo and Sally Long

Kathleen Lovelace

Dr. and Mrs. Debesh Mazumdar

Guy and Mary Jo McDonald

Mr. and Mrs. Dean Mehlberg

Genie and David Meissner

Gregory and Susan Milleville

Mark and Carol Mitchell

Melodi Muehlbauer

Richard and Isabel Muirhead

Ms. Mary Ann Mueller

Raymond and Janice Perry

Gerald T. and Carol K. Petersen

David J. Peterson

Kathryn Koenen Potos

John and Susan Pustejovsky

Philip Reifenberg

Drs. Walter and Lisa Rich

Susan Riedel

Dottie Rotter

Mr. Thomas Schneider

Rev. Doug and Marilyn Schoen

Mr. and Mrs. Mark W. Schwallie

Dr. and Mrs. Kevin R. Siebenlist

Paul and Frances Seifert

Margles Singleton

Mrs. George R. Slater

Dr. and Mrs. C. John Snyder

Leonard Sobczak

Annual Fund

Loretto and Dick Steinmetz

Jeff and Jody Steren

Ian and Ellen Szczygielski

David Taggart and Terry Burko

John and Anne Thomas

Joan Thompson

Mr. Stephen Thompson

Mr. Ed Tonn

Mike and Peg Uihlein

James Van Ess

Ann and Joseph Wenzler

Prati and Norm Wojtal

Jim and Sandy Wrangell

Marshall Zarem

William and Denise Zeidler

$1,000 and above

Five Anonymous Donors

Ruth Agrusa

Sue and Louie Andrew

Betty Arndt

Mr. Paul A. Baerwald

Paul Barkhaus

James and Nora Barry

Rodney C. Bartlow and Judith K. Stephenson

Mr. James M. Baumgartner

Jack Beatty

Christine Beck

Dianne and David Benner

Richard Bergman

Elliot and Karen Berman

Mrs. Kristine Best

Mr. Lawrence Bialcik

Karen and Geoffrey Bilda

Marjorie Bjornstad

Greg Black

David and Sherry Blumberg

Robert Borch and Linda Wickstrom

Lois and Robert Brazner

Dan and Peg Bresnahan

James Brown and Ann Brophy

Michael and Marianna Bruch

Dr. and Mrs. James D. Buck

Mike and Ericka Burzynski

Ms. Trish Calvy

Karen and Harry Carlson

Ms. Carol A. Carpenter

Mr. and Mrs. Richard J. Cecil

John Chain

B. Lauren and Margaret Charous

Edith Christian

Margaret Cieslak-Etlicher

Margaret Crosby

Garrett and Anne de Vroome Kamerling

Mrs. Linda DeBruin

Ms. Kristine Demski

Mary Paula Dix

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Dougherty

Gloria and Peter Drenzek

Mary Ann Dude

Thomas Durkin and Joan Robotham

Jill and George Fahr

Helen Forster

Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Freitag

Martha Giacobassi

Matelan and Carole Glaske

Ralph and Cherie Gorenstein

Stephen and Bernadine Graff

Mr. and Mrs. James Gramentine

Greater Milwaukee Foundation

Dresselhuys Family Fund

Leesley B. and Joan J. Hardy

Jay Kay Foundation Fund

Mr. and Mrs. James Grigg

Douglas and Margaret Ann Haag

Leila and Joe Hanson

Jacqueline Heling

Jean and John Henderson

Dr. Sidney and Suzanna Herszenson

Ms. Judy Hessel

Jenny and Bob Hillis

Mr. and Mrs. Bernard C. Hlavac

Jeanne and Conrad Holling

Richard and Jeanne Hryniewicki

Terry Huebner

Mr. and Mrs. James Hunter III

Deane and Vicky Jaeger

Kathryn and Alan Janicek

Amy S. Jensen

Faith L. Johnson

Karen and Dean Johnson

Maja Jurisic and Don Fraker

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kahn

Mr. Stephen Kaniewski

Rose and Dale Kaser

Brain and Mary Lou Kennedy

Ms. Carole Kincaid

Robert and Dorothy King

Ms. Jane Kivlin

Joseph W. Kmoch

Jonathan and Willette Knopp

Michael Koss/Koss Foundation

Anthony and Susan Krausen

Milton and Carol Kuyers

Mary E. Lacy

Larry and Mary LeBlanc

Micaela Levine and Thomas St. John

John and Janice Liebenstein

Mr. and Mrs. David Lindberg

Matt and Patty Linn

Ann Loder

Bruce and Elizabeth Loder

Richard and Roberta London

Neill and Fran Luebke

Wayne and Kristine Lueders

Stephen and Jane Lukowicz

Ms. Joan Maas

Ann MacIver

Stephen and Judy Maersch

Dr. John and Kristie Malone

Mr. Peter Mamerow

Jeanne and David Mantsch

Steven and Mary Rose Marinkovich

Dr. Daniel and Constance McCarty

Mr. Brian and Lesli McLinden

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas L. McLinn

Drs. Daryl Melzer and Rita Hanson

Mrs. Debra L. Metz

Ray and Elaine Meyer

Ms. Jean L. Mileham

Dr. David Miyama

Christine Mortensen

William and Laverne Mueller

David and Gail Nelson

Jean A. Novy

Laurie Ocepek

Susan M. Otto

Dr. and Mrs. James T. Paloucek

Cathy P. Procton

William and Cynthia Prost

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Quadracci

Dr. Francis J. Randall

Dr. Ken C. Redlin

Lysbeth and James Reiskytl

Karen and Paul Rice

Dan and Anna Robbins

Mrs. David Y. Rosenzweig

Roger Ruggeri and Andrea Wagoner

Drs. Larry and Polly Ryan

Keri Sarajian and Rick Stratton

Wilbert and Genevieve Schauer Foundation

Lawrence and Katherine Schnuck

Elaine and Martin Schreiber

Stephen and Lois Schreiter

Phil Schumacher and Pauline Beck

Scott Silet and Kate Lewis

John and Judith Simonitsch

Mr. Reeves E. Smith

Ken and Dee Stein

Bonnie L. Steindorf

Sally Swetnam

Ms. Lola Tegeder

Rebecca and Robert Tenges

Tim and Bonnie Tesch

Kent and Marna Tess-Mattner

Dean and Katherine Thome

Mr. and Mrs. James S. Tidey

Joy Towell

Drs. Steven and Denise Trinkl

Constance U’Ren

Gary and Cynthia Vasques

Michael Walton

Ruth A. Way

Ms. Beth L. Weckmueller

Henry J. Wellner and James Cook

Ann and Joe Wenzler

Barbara Wesener

David Wesley

Ms. Stephanie Wesselowski

Robert and Barbara Whealon

A. James White

Robert and Lana Wiese

Linda and Dan Wilhelms

Terry and Carol Wilkins

Jay and Madonna Williams

Rolland and Sharon Wilson

Ron and Alice Winkler

Lee and Carol Wolcott

Daryl and Bonnie Wunrow

Joan and Robert Ziegler

Mrs. Sharon S. Ziegler

Marilyn and Doug Zwissler

Gala Sponsors/Gala Paddle Raisers/Corporate & Foundation

GALA

SPONSORS

Laura and Mike Arnow

ATC

Baird Funds

BMO Bank

Brewers Community Foundation, Inc.

Ernst & Young, LLP

Godfrey & Kahn, S.C.

Interstate Parking

Johnson Controls, Inc.

Johnson Financial Group

Marietta Investment Partners

Susan and Brent Martin

Bob and Barb Monnat

Northern Trust

Northwestern Mutual

Old National Bank

PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP

Quarles

Rockwell Automation

SixSibs Capital

Dale and Allison Smith

We Energies Foundation

Westbury Bank

Herb Zien and Liz Levins

GALA PADDLE RAISERS

André Allaire

Mary Allmon and Michael Allen

Alice Ambrowiak

Laura and Mike Arnow

Alexander Ayers

Tom and Susan Beranek

Erica and Eric Berg

John and Caroline Bolger

Virginia Bolger

Meg Boyd

Bob Bronzo

Randy Bryant and Cecelia Gore

Norman Buebendorf

Robert Burris and Marlene King

Daniel and Allison Byrne

Derrick Callister

Steven and Gillian Chamberlin

Joseph Checota and Ellen McNamara Checota

Amy and Frederick Croen

Lafayette Crump

Jillian Culver

Michael Cyrus

Benjamin Dern

George and Sandra Dionisopoulos

Jennifer Dirks

Matt Domski

Elizabeth and Robert Draper

Martha and Aaron Ebent

Linda Edelstein

Marquita Edwards

Joshua Erickson

Danielle Finn

Thayer Fisher

Moira Fitzgerald and Peter Kammer

Michael and Pamela Glorioso

Daniel and Samantha Grambow

John and Peggy Griffith

Gruber Law Offices LLC

Laura Gutierrez

Calvin Harris

Zoë Hastert

Paul Hauer

Kathryn Hausman and Matthew Millson

Barrie and Rob Henken

Renee Herzing

Karen Hung and Robert Coletti

Rachel Idso

Joan Johnson

Candice Johnstone

Judy and Gary Jorgensen

Alyce Katayama

Pat and Christine Keyes

Matt Kiefer

Marilyn King

Vivian King

Michael Krco

Konrad Kuchenbach

Tom Lindow

Xia Liu

Christopher and Krista Ludwig

Peter Mahler

Melissa and Dylan Mann

Susan and Brent Martin

Christian and Kate Mitchell

Teresa Mogensen

Theodore and Kelsey Molinari

Robert and Barbara Monnat

Bruce and Joyce Myers

Mitchell Nelles and Ellie Gettinger

Brian and Maura Packham

Nicholas and Alison Pardi

Richard and Lois Pauls

Tai & Andrew Pauls

Irina Petrakova Otto

Michael and Jayne Pink

Leslie and Aaron Plamann

Kathryn Podmokly

Deanna Singh and Justin Ponder

Anne and Thomas Reed

Kathryn Reinardy

Patricia Rieselbach

Michael Rossetto

Niko Ruud

Jakob Schjoerring-Thyssen

Michael Schmitz

Evamarie Schoenborn

Richard Schreiner and Alison Graf

Margot Schwartz

Gretchen Seamons

SixSibs Capital

Dale and Allison Smith

Pamela Stampen

Eric Stolzmann

Beth Straka

Bruce Tilley

Linda and Gile Tojek

Haruki Toyama and Brenda Bulinski

Susan Varela

Sarah Wagner

Marie Weiss

Michael and Cathy White

Jeff Yabuki and Gail Groenwoldt Yabuki

Andy Zilinskas

CORPORATE & FOUNDATION

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra truly values the generosity of musicloving patrons in the concert hall and throughout the community. We especially thank our Corporate and Foundation contributors for investing their time and support in this treasure. We gratefully acknowledge contributions from:

$1,000,000 and above

United Performing Arts Fund

$250,000 and above

Argosy Foundation

The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation

Laskin Family Foundation

$100,000 and above

Herzfeld Foundation

Rockwell Automation

We Energies Foundation

$50,000 and above

Bader Philanthropies, Inc.

Chase Family Foundation

Greater Milwaukee Foundation

Norman and Lucy Cohn Family Fund

Helen and Jeanette Oberndorfer Fund

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Fund

Melitta S. and Joan M. Pick

Charitable Trust

$25,000 and above

Anonymous

Greater Milwaukee Foundation

Gertrude Elser and John Edward Schroeder Fund

Johnson Controls

Milwaukee County Arts Fund (CAMPAC)

R.D. and Linda Peters Foundation

Schoenleber Foundation, Inc.

Wisconsin Arts Board

$15,000 and above

A.O. Smith Foundation, Inc.

Bert L. & Patricia S. Steigleder

Charitable Trust

Greater Milwaukee Foundation

David C. Scott Foundation

Krause Family Foundation

National Endowment for the Arts

U.S. Bank

Wisconsin Department of Tourism

$10,000 and above

Ayco Charitable Foundation

Brewers Community Foundation

Brico Fund

Ellsworth Corporation

General Mills Foundation

Gladys E. Gores Charitable Foundation

Greater Milwaukee Foundation

Donald and Barbara Abert Fund

William A. and Mary M Bonfield, Jr. Fund

Matching Gifts/Golden Note Partners/Marquee Circle/Tributes

Jane Bradley Pettit Foundation

Komatsu Mining Corp Foundation

Northwestern Mutual

Ralph Evinrude Foundation, Inc.

William and Janice Godfrey

Family Foundation

Wispact Foundation

$5,000 and above

Charles D. Ortgiesen Foundation

Dean Family Foundation

Frieda and William Hunt Memorial

Gene and Ruth Posner Foundation, Inc.

Greater Milwaukee Foundation

Margaret E. Sheehan Memorial Fund

Roxy and Bud Heyse Fund/Journal Fund

Julian Family Foundation

Koeppen-Gerlach Foundation, Inc.

Milwaukee Arts Board

Richard G. Jacobus Family Foundation

Rite-Hite Holding Corporation Foundation

$2,500 and above

Camille A. Lonstorf Trust

Enterprise Holdings

Greater Milwaukee Foundation

Del Chambers Fund

Eleanor N. Wilson Fund

ELM II Fund

Henry C., Eva M., Robert H. and Jack J. Gillo Charitable Fund

Margaret Heminway Wells Fund

Mildred L. Roehr & Herbert W. Roehr Fund

Hamparian Family Foundation

Theodore W. Batterman Family Foundation

Westbury Bank

$1,000 and above

Albert J. & Flora H. Ellinger Foundation

Anthony Petullo Foundation, Inc.

Clare M. Peters Charitable Trust

Delta Dental of Wisconsin

Educators Credit Union

Gardner Foundation

Greater Milwaukee Foundation

Bechthold Family Fund

Carrie Taylor & Nettie Taylor

Robinson Memorial Fund

Cottrell Balding Fund

George and Christine Sosnovsky Fund

George and Joan Hoehn

Family Fund

Irene Edelstein Memorial Fund

Japan Foundation

Loyal D. Grinker

Steinway Piano Gallery of Milwaukee

Townsend Foundation

Usinger Foundation

$500 and above

Barney Family Foundation

Greater Milwaukee Foundation

Robert C. Archer Designated Fund

MLG Capital

MATCHING GIFTS

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra gratefully acknowledges the following corporations and foundations who match their employees’ contributions to the Annual Fund.

Abbvie

Aurora Health Care

Benevity Community Impact Fund

BMO Harris Bank

Bucyrus Foundation, Inc.

Caterpillar Foundation

Church Mutual Insurance Company

Dominion Foundation

Eaton Corporation

Erie Insurance

GE Foundation

Google

Humana

Johnson Controls Foundation

Kohl’s Corp.

Madison Investments

Microsoft Corp.

Morgan Stanley

Robert W. Baird & Co.

SherwinWilliams

Stifel

Thrivent Financial

United Way of Greater Atlanta

United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County

Wisconsin Energy Corporation

GOLDEN NOTE PARTNERS

The MSO gratefully acknowledges the following organizations and individuals for their gifts of product or services:

Becker Design

Belle Fiori – Official Event Florist of the MSO

Beth and Michael Giacobassi

Brian and Maura Packham

The Capital Grille

Central Standard Craft Distillery

Coffman Creative Events

Downer Avenue Wine & Spirits

Drury Hotels

Encore Playbills

Eric and Brenda Hobbs

GO Riteway Transportation Group

Hilton Milwaukee

Kohler Co.

Peter Mahler

Marcus Hotels & Resorts

Marcus Corporation

Susan and Brent Martin

Ogletree Deakins

Sojourner Family Peace Center

Steinway Piano Gallery of Milwaukee

Studio Gear – Official Event Partner of the MSO

Wisconsin Public Radio

MARQUEE CIRCLE

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra proudly partners with the following members of the 2024.25 Marquee Circle. We thank these generous partners of our annual corporate subscription program for their charitable contributions and for connecting their corporate communities with the MSO.

DeWitt Law Firm

Ellsworth Corporation

Hupy and Abraham, S.C.

Walker Forge, Inc.

TRIBUTES

In honor of Jacob and Shayna Bilsky

Adam Bilsky

In honor of Barry Blackwell, M.D.’s

90th Birthday

Elliot and Eva Lipchik

In honor of Halina and Marcin Chrzanowscy

Magdalena Chrzanowska

In memory of Thallis Hoyt Drake

Charles Q. Sullivan

In memory of Alan I. Ettinger

Ms. Suzy B. Ettinger and Ms. Sally B. Waters

Frank Loo and Sally Long

Eugene Guszkowski

In memory of Robert Fewel

Janet Bollow

Dale and Darlene Kirchner

Ann Terwilliger

In memory of Michael Patrick Hauer

Marlene Cook

Linda Cutler

Gertrude Czajkowski

Jean Czajkowski

Jim and Nancy Czajkowski

Paul and Naomi Dang

Sandra Degeorge

Mary Duffy

Joan Hauer

Don and Debbie Hecker

Greg and Dawn Hecker

Yuqiu Jiang

Julianne John

Patricia Krajnak

Debby Lazich

Christel Mildenberg

JoAnna Poehlmann

Jane and Jim Schneider

In memory of Christine Hausladen

Alex Kaker

Cheryl Limmex

Laurie Reid

Carol Walsh

Tributes

In honor of Tim Klabunde’s long career with the MSO and retirement

Dr. and Mrs. David Daniels

In honor of Susan and Brent Martin

Sarah Nordstrom

In memory of Dr. A. Stratton McAllister

Dr. Caryl McAllister

In memory of Ken McHugh

Mr. and Mrs. Michael Hauer

In honor of our wonderful, joygiving, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra

Judith Gregor

In honor of the MSO’s Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion Work

Tina Itson

In memory of Dr. Alan Pohl

Alan and Iris Goldberg

Anne Hazelwood

Dr. and Mrs. Gordon E. Lang

Ari Osur

Dr. Carol Pohl

Vera Ries

In memory of Dave Rierson

Jack and Donna Hill

Judy and Gary Jorgensen

Patricia Rieselbach

Jim and Sandy Wrangell

In memory of I. Carl Romer

Beulah Romer Erickson

In honor of Patrick Schley

Imogene Schley

In memory of Jane Tisdel

Dr. Paul Loewenstein and Jody

Kaufman Loewstein

In memory of Frank Thometz

JoAnn Corrao

Gregory Custer

Nancy Einhorn

Dr. Bob Henschel

Judy and Gary Jorgensen

Edmund Jung

Spencer Marquart

Dan and Susan Minahan

Christine Rahardt

Michael and Cathy White

In memory of Judith Margaret Wagner

Steven A. and Lisa L. Wagner

MSO Board of Directors

OFFICERS

Christian Mitchell, Chair

Susan Martin,  Immediate Past Chair

David Uihlein, Honorary Co-Chair

Julia Uihlein, Honorary Co-Chair

Gregory Smith, Secretary; Chair, Governance Committee

Patrick Murphy, Treasurer; Chair, Finance Committee

EX OFFICIO DIRECTORS

Douglas M. Hagerman, Chair, Chair’s Council

Ken-David Masur, Music Director, Polly and Bill Van Dyke Music Director Chair

Mark Niehaus, President & Executive Director, Michael and Jeanne Schmitz Chair

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Christian Mitchell, Chair

Susan Martin, Immediate Past Chair

Douglas M. Hagerman Chair, Chair’s Council

Eric E. Hobbs

Robert Klieger, Chair, Players’ Council

Mark A. Metzendorf, Chair, Advancement Committee

Patrick Murphy, Treasurer; Chair, Finance Committee

Mark Niehaus, President & Executive Director, Michael and Jeanne Schmitz Chair

Michael J. Schmitz

Gregory Smith, Secretary; Chair, Governance Committee

Haruki Toyama, Chair, Artistic Direction Committee

ELECTED DIRECTORS

Daniel Byrne

Jeff Costakos

Jennifer Dirks

Steve Hancock, Chair, Education Committee

Renee Herzing

Alyce Coyne Katayama

Peter Mahler, Chair, Grand Future Committee

Teresa Morgensen

Robert B. Monnat

Leslie Plamann, Chair, Audit Committee

Craig A. Schmutzer

Jay E. Schwister, Chair, Retirement Plan Committee

Dale R. Smith

Pam Stampen

Herb Zien, Chair, Facilities Management Committee

DESIGNATED DIRECTORS

City

Sachin Chheda

Theodore Perlick Molinari

Pegge Sytkowski, Chair, Marketing & Advocacy Committee

County

Fiesha Lynn Bell

Rene Izquierdo

Garren Randolph

Niko Ruud

PLAYER DIRECTORS

Robert Klieger, Chair, Players’ Council

Ilana Setapen, Player-at-Large

CHAIR’S COUNCIL

Douglas M. Hagerman, Chair

Chris Abele

Laura J. Arnow

Richard S. Bibler

Charles Boyle

Roberta Caraway

Judy Christl

Mary E. Connelly

Donn R. Dresselhuys

Eileen Dubner

Franklyn Esenberg

Marta P. Haas

Jean Holmburg

Barbara Hunt

Leon Janssen

Judy Jorgensen

James A. Kasch

Lee Walther Kordus

Michael J. Koss

JoAnne Krause

Martin J. Krebs

Keith Mardak

Susan Martin

Andy Nunemaker

James G. Rasche

Stephen E. Richman

Michael J. Schmitz, Immediate Past Chair

Joan Steele Stein

Linda Tojek

Joan R. Urdan

Larry Waters

Kathleen A. Wilson

MSO ENDOWMENT & FOUNDATION TRUSTEES

Bruce Laning, Trustee Chair

Amy Croen

Steven Etzel

Douglas M. Hagerman

Bartholomew Reute

David Uihlein

PAST CHAIRS

Susan Martin (2020-2024)

Andy Nunemaker (2014-2020)

Douglas M. Hagerman (2011-2014)

Chris Abele (2004-2011)

Judy Jorgensen (2002-2004)

Stephen E. Richman (2000-2002)

Stanton J. Bluestone* (1998-2000)

Allen N. Rieselbach* (1995-1998)

Edwin P. Wiley* (1993-1995)

Michael J. Schmitz (1990-1993)

Orren J. Bradley* (1988-1990)

Russell W. Britt* (1986-1988)

James H. Keyes (1984-1986)

Richard S. Bibler (1982-1984)

John K. MacIver* (1980-1982)

Donn R. Dresselhuys (1978-1980)

Harrold J. McComas* (1976-1978)

Laflin C. Jones* (1974-1976)

Robert S. Zigman* (1972-1974)

Charles A. Krause* (1970-1972)

Donald B. Abert* (1968-1970)

Erhard H. Buettner* (1966-1968)

Clifford Randall* (1964-1966)

John Ogden* (1962-1964)

Stanley Williams* (1959-1962)

* deceased

MSO 2024.25 Administration

EXECUTIVE

Mark Niehaus, President & Executive Director, Michael and Jeanne Schmitz Chair

Bret Dorhout, Vice President of Artistic Planning

Tom Lindow, Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

Monica K. Meyer, Vice President of Advancement

Terrell Pierce, Vice President of Orchestra Operations

Kathryn Reinardy, Vice President of Marketing & Communications

Rick Snow, Vice President of Facilities & Building Operations

Marquita Edwards, Director of Community Engagement

Sean McNally, Executive Assistant & Board Liaison

ADVANCEMENT

Michael Rossetto, Senior Director of Advancement & Major Gifts

William Loder, Gift Officer

Kathryn Hausman, Individual Giving Manager, Research & Discovery

Julie Jahn, Campaign Manager

Tracy Migon, Development Systems Manager

Andrea Moreno-Islas, Advancement Manager

Mitch Nelles, Giving Manager, New Acquisition

Leah Peavler, Institutional Giving Manager

EDUCATION & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Rebecca Whitney, Director of Education

Courtney Buvid, ACE & Education Manager

Nathan Hickox-Young, Concerts for Schools & Education Manager

FINANCE

Jenny Beier, Senior Accountant

Arianis Hernandez, Accounting Coordinator

Cynthia Moore, Human Resources, Diversity & Inclusion Manager

MARKETING

Lizzy Cichowski, Director of Marketing

Erin Kogler, Director of Communications

Adam Cohen, Patron Systems Manager

Katelyn Farebrother, Marketing Coordinator

David Jensen, Communications Coordinator

Zachary-John Reinardy, Lead Designer

Kerry Tomaszewski, Communications Manager

BOX OFFICE

Luther Gray, Director of Ticket Operations & Group Sales

Al Bartosik, Box Office Manager

Marie Holtyn, Box Office Supervisor

Adam Klarner, Patron Services Coordinator

OPERATIONS

Sean Goldman, Director of Operations

Antonio Padilla Denis, Director of Orchestra Personnel

Kayla Aftahi, Operations Coordinator

Paul Beck, Principal Librarian, James E. Van Ess

Principal Librarian Chair

Maiken Demet, Assistant to the Music Director

Albrecht Gaub, Artistic Coordinator

Matthew Geise, Assistant Librarian & Media Archivist

Emily Wacker Schultz, Artistic Associate

Lisa Sottile, Production Stage Manager

Tristan Wallace, Production Manager/Live Audio, MSO | Technical Director, BSC

Christina Williams, Chorus Manager

FACILITIES & EVENT SERVICES

Sam Hushek, Director of Events

Patrick G. H. Schley, Director of Event Services

Donovan Burton, Facilities Manager - 2nd Shift

Travis Byrd, Facilities Manager

Lisa Klimczak, House Manager

David Kotlewski, House Manager

Zed Waeltz, Event Services Manager

RESONANCE FOOD CO.

David Zakroczymski, Director of Operations

Josh Langenohl, Senior Operations Manager

Ben Bartlett, Sous Chef

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