February 10 - 12 — Pops Music of the Knights

MUSIC OF THE KNIGHTS

Friday, February 10, 2023 at 7:30 pm Saturday, February 11, 2023 at 7:30 pm Sunday, February 12, 2023 at 2:30 pm ALLEN-BRADLEY HALL Nicholas Buc, conductor Kelli Rabke, vocalist Lorinda Lisitza, vocalist Blaine Krauss, vocalist Scott Coulter, vocalist John Boswell, piano and vocalist

PROGRAM TO BE ANNOUNCED FROM THE STAGE

This weekend’s media sponsor is WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO. The length of this concert is approximately 2 hours. All programs are subject to change. Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra can be heard on Telarc, Koss Classics, Pro Arte, AVIE, and Vox/ Turnabout recordings. MSO Classics recordings (digital only) available on iTunes and at mso.org. MSO Binaural recordings (digital only) available at mso.org.

Guest Artist Biographies

NICHOLAS BUC

Nicholas Buc is a composer, conductor, arranger, violinist, and pianist. He studied composition with Brenton Broadstock and Dr. Stuart Greenbaum at the University of Melbourne, where he received the inaugural Fellowship of Australian Composers Award. As the recipient of the Brian May Scholarship for Australian film composers, he completed a master’s degree in scoring for film and multimedia at New York University, studying with Ira Newborn and Paul Chihara as well as receiving the Elmer Bernstein Award for Film Scoring. He has conducted all of the major Australian symphony orchestras as well as the Minnesota Orchestra, Houston, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Austin, Grand Rapids, and Madison symphony orchestras in the U.S. He also makes regular appearances in Asia, conducting the Tokyo, Hong Kong, Malaysian, Osaka, and Taipei philharmonic orchestras. Buc has worked with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Chris Botti, Amanda Palmer, Ben Folds, and was conductor/arranger for Tina Arena on six Australian tours. He has also written arrangements for the Birds of Tokyo, Missy Higgins, Passenger, Eskimo Joe, Vera Blue, and The Whitlams, as well as working on five seasons of The Voice Australia. In 2019, he teamed up with Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, arranging their film music for a new show with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival.

KELLI RABKE

Kelli Rabke got her “big break” playing the role of Dorothy in Paper Mill Playhouse’s acclaimed production of The Wizard of Oz. Shortly thereafter, she was handpicked by Andrew Lloyd Webber to play the lead role of the Narrator in the Broadway revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (U.S. cast recording). Following that, she played her dream role of Eponine in Les Misérables on Broadway. She went on to perform in regional theaters across the country in such roles as Mabel in Mack and Mabel, Christine in Phantom of the Opera, and back to Paper Mill Playhouse in Stephen Schwartz’s Children of Eden as Yonah (American premiere recording). She is one of only two Broadway stars in history to originate a role in both a Stephen Schwartz and an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical — a distinction for which she is incredibly honored. She has been seen and heard in tons of TV commercials and voice-overs, and was the voice of several animated characters, including Kat in the Discovery Kids series Kenny the Shark. She also played the recurring role of Bernadette on The Young and the Restless. She performs regularly with symphony orchestras stretching from Calgary to Mazatlán and all across the country in Blockbuster Broadway!, Music of the Knights, and The Wonderful Music of Oz. Recent performing highlights include debuting an original song written by David Friedman and Kathie Lee Gifford on the Today Show, and recording the PBS American Songbook segment Stephen Schwartz and Friends, featuring the composer himself at the piano and Rabke singing one of his signature songs from Wicked, “The Wizard and I.”