A SIMPLY SWINGIN’ VALENTINE Friday, February 13, 2026 at 7:30 pm Saturday, February 14, 2026 at 7:30 pm Sunday, February 15, 2026 at 2:30 pm ALLEN-BRADLEY HALL Ryan Tani, conductor Steve Lippia, vocalist
ALAN JAY LERNER AND FREDERICK LOEWE Almost Like Being in Love CY COLEMAN AND CAROLYN LEIGH The Best is Yet to Come SAMMY CAHN AND JIMMY VAN HEUSEN All the Way JACK LAWRENCE AND CHARLES TRENET Beyond the Sea JEAN BROUSSOLLE AND SACHA DISTEL The Good Life BILLY JOEL I Love You Just the Way You Are GEORGE GERSHWIN AND IRA GERSHWIN They Can’t Take That Away From Me OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN AND RICHARD RODGERS I Have Dreamed KELLY GORDON AND DEAN KAY That’s Life
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MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
INTERMISSION
BERT KAEMPFERT AND CHARLES SINGLETON Strangers in the Night SAMMY CAHN AND JULE STYNE I Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry HEINZ MEIER AND JOHNNY MERCER The Summer Wind SAMMY CAHN AND JULE STYNE Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week) MACK GORDON AND JOSEF MYROW You Make Me Feel So Young ALAN JAY LERNER AND FREDERICK LOEWE On the Street Where You Live SAMMY CAHN AND JIMMY VAN HEUSEN My Kind of Town LORENZ HART AND RICHARD RODGERS My Funny Valentine PAUL ANKA AND JACQUES REVAUX My Way FRED EBB AND JOHN KANDER New York, New York
This weekend’s media sponsor is WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO. The length of this concert is approximately 2 hours. All programs are subject to change. The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra can be heard on the Naxos, Telarc, Koss Classics, ProArte, AVIE, and Vox/ Turnabout labels. MSO Classics recordings are available for digital streaming and download on Spotify, Apple Music, and more.
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Guest Artist Biographies STEVE LIPPIA Smooth, stylish, and effortlessly cool, Steve Lippia brings classic swing into the modern spotlight. This Grammy-nominated vocalist captures the heart of the Great American Songbook while giving it fresh life for today’s audiences. With an easy smile, a voice like velvet, and phrasing that feels both vintage and new, Lippia makes every performance a master class in audience connection and style. Lippia has headlined with over 150 symphony orchestras and hundreds of performing arts centers across North America, including the Boston Pops, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Utah Symphony, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, performing for audiences of every size — up to 100,000 with the Des Moines Symphony alone. His signature shows — “Simply Sinatra,” “Simply Swingin’ with Sinatra and Friends,” and “A Swingin’ Holiday Affair” — seamlessly blend timeless swing with storytelling, humor, and undeniable charm. From New York City’s legendary Birdland Jazz Club to major music festivals, casinos, corporate galas, and multi-month tours, Steve’s magnetic stage presence bridges generations of listeners. Critics have praised his “incredible voice, uncanny phrasing, and effortless connection with the audience,” calling him “a dazzling performer” who makes old school sound brand new. Lippia has released three albums: Steve Lippia Live, Steve Lippia (recorded at Warner Brothers Studios with a 41-piece orchestra), and Steve Lippia in Concert, which earned three Grammy Award nominations. Each project showcases his artistry, versatility, and deep respect for the music that continues to define American cool. Lippia embodies the best of classic elegance and contemporary sophistication. His performances celebrate an era of style and class while proving that like a diamond, a tuxedo, or a martini, great music and great showmanship never go out of fashion.
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MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Elizabeth Breslin Georgi Dimitrov Nathan Hackett Michael Lieberman** Erin H. Pipal
Rudi Heinrich, Assistant Principal Matthew Melillo CONTRABASSOON Matthew Melillo
2025.26 SEASON
CELLOS Susan Babini, Principal, KEN-DAVID MASUR Dorothea C. Mayer Principal Cello Chair Music Director Shinae Ra, Assistant Principal (2nd chair) Polly and Bill Van Dyke Music Director Chair Scott Tisdel, Associate Principal Emeritus Madeleine Kabat EDO DE WAART Peter Szczepanek Music Director Laureate Peter J. Thomas BYRON STRIPLING Adrien Zitoun Principal Pops Conductor Stein Family Foundation BASSES Principal Pops Conductor Chair Principal, Donald B. Abert Principal Bass Chair RYAN TANI Andrew Raciti, Acting Principal Associate Conductor Nash Tomey, Acting Assistant Principal (2nd chair) CHERYL FRAZES HILL Brittany Conrad Chorus Director Broner McCoy Margaret Hawkins Chorus Director Chair Paris Myers TIMOTHY J. BENSON Assistant Chorus Director HARP 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 Elliot Lee Dylana Leung Kyung Ah Oh Lijia Phang Vinícius Sant’Ana** Yuanhui Fiona Zheng SECOND VIOLINS Jennifer Startt, Principal, Andrea and Woodrow Leung Principal Second Violin Chair Ji-Yeon Lee, Assistant Principal (2nd chair) Hyewon Kim, Acting Assistant Principal (3rd chair) Heejeon Ahn Lisa Johnson Fuller Clay Hancock Paul Hauer Sheena Lan** Janis Sakai** Yiran Yao VIOLAS Victor de Almeida, Principal, Richard O. and Judith A. Wagner Family Principal Viola Chair Samantha Rodriguez, Acting Assistant Principal (2nd chair), Friends of Janet F. Ruggeri Assistant Principal Viola Chair Alejandro Duque, Acting Assistant Principal (3rd chair)
Julia Coronelli, Principal, Walter Schroeder Principal Harp Chair FLUTES Sonora Slocum, Principal, Margaret and Roy Butter Principal Flute Chair Heather Zinninger, Assistant Principal Jennifer Bouton Schaub
HORNS Matthew Annin, Principal, Krause Family Principal French Horn Chair Krystof Pipal, Associate Principal Dietrich Hemann, Andy Nunemaker French Horn Chair Darcy Hamlin Dawson Hartman TRUMPETS Matthew Ernst, Principal, Walter L. Robb Family Principal 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 Principal Trombone Chair Kirk Ferguson, Assistant Principal BASS TROMBONE John Thevenet, Richard M. Kimball Bass Trombone Chair TUBA Robyn Black, Principal, John and Judith Simonitsch Principal Tuba Chair TIMPANI Dean Borghesani, Principal Chris Riggs, Assistant Principal
PICCOLO Jennifer Bouton Schaub OBOES Katherine Young Steele, Principal, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra League Principal Oboe Chair Kevin Pearl, Assistant Principal Margaret Butler
PERCUSSION Robert Klieger, Principal Chris Riggs
ENGLISH HORN Margaret Butler, Philip and Beatrice Blank English Horn Chair in memoriam to John Martin
PERSONNEL Antonio Padilla Denis, Director of Orchestra Personnel Paris Myers, Assistant Manager of Orchestra Personnel
CLARINETS Todd Levy, Principal, Franklyn Esenberg Principal 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 Principal Bassoon Chair*
PIANO Melitta S. Pick Endowed Piano Chair
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 during the 2025.26 season ** Acting member of the MSO for the 2025.26 season
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