LEDISI WITH THE MSO
Saturday, May 16 at 7:30 pm
ALLEN-BRADLEY HALL
Ryan Tani, conductor
Ledisi, vocalist
GEORGE GERSHWIN AND IRA GERSHWIN
Love is Here to Stay
STANLEY ADAMS AND MARÍA GREVER
What a Difference a Day Makes
ANITA HILL AND DINAH WASHINGTON
If I Never Get to Heaven
GENE DE PAUL AND DON RAYE
You Don’t Know What Love Is
CLYDE OTIS AND MURRAY STEIN
Baby (You’ve Got What It Takes)
REDD EVANS, ARTHUR KENT, AND DAVE MANN
Don’t Go to Strangers
PEARL DELANEY AND TOM DELANEY
Nobody Knows the Way I Feel This Morning
JOHN FREDERICK COOTS AND JAMES LAMONT GILLESPIE
You Go to My Head
IRVING CAESAR AND VINCENT YOUMANS
Sometimes I’m Happy
COLE PORTER
Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love)
DUKE ELLINGTON, JUAN TIZOL, AND IRVING MILLS
Caravan
CLYDE OTIS
This Bitter Earth
DUKE ELLINGTON AND BUB RUSSELL
Do Nothin’ Till You Hear From Me
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.
Guest Artist Biographies
LEDISI
Grammy Award-winning artist Ledisi is one of the most dynamic vocalists of her generation. Classically trained, her powerhouse voice transcends genre, blending soul, R&B, gospel, and jazz with emotional depth and technical mastery. Ledisi has evolved from local stages to global acclaim, including a sold-out Carnegie Hall performance and a commanding appearance at Super Bowl LIX, where she opened the game with “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Ledisi recently released her 16th studio album, The Crown, a bold, genre-blurring celebration of identity, joy, and empowerment. The project marks a defining moment in her career, reinforcing her place as an artist who can’t be boxed in.
Ledisi also released a tribute album in 2025 titled For Dinah, honoring jazz and blues legend Dinah Washington with reimagined classics that showcased her soulful artistry. The album dropped in October 2025, blending Washington’s timeless material with Ledisi’s expressive voice and contemporary flair.
A Concert for America
Piano and Organ Music Celebrating Independence Day 2026
Saturday, June 20, 3 p.m. Elm Grove Lutheran Church
The concert features the church ’s digitally enhanced Casavant pipe organ and classic Steinway piano played by Mr. Richard C. Ewert, organist at Elm Grove Lutheran, and Dr. Aaron Wunsch, Professor of Keyboard Studies at the Juilliard School in New York City. Musical selections include a rare live performance of the Concerto for Organ and Piano (Op. 74) by Flor Peeters as well as George Gershwin ’s Rhapsody in Blue and Charles Ives' “Variations on ‘America’" in celebration of the 250th birthday celebration July 4th.
Admission is free and open to the public. Ample parking is available. A reception will be held afterwards in the Fellowship Hall in honor of the artists.
Elm Grove Ev. Lutheran Church · 945 Terrace Drive · Elm Grove WI · (262) 797 -2970 · egl.org
2025.26 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
Associate 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
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)
Elizabeth Breslin
Georgi Dimitrov
Nathan Hackett
Michael Lieberman**
Erin H. Pipal
CELLOS
Susan Babini, Principal, Dorothea C. Mayer Principal Cello Chair
Shinae Ra, Assistant Principal (2nd chair)
Scott Tisdel, Associate Principal Emeritus
Madeleine Kabat
Peter Szczepanek
Peter J. Thomas
Adrien Zitoun
BASSES
Principal, Donald B. Abert Principal Bass Chair
Andrew Raciti, Acting Principal
Nash Tomey, Acting Assistant Principal (2nd chair)
Brittany Conrad
Broner McCoy
Paris Myers
HARP
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
PICCOLO
Jennifer Bouton Schaub
OBOES
Katherine Young Steele, Principal, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra League Principal 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 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*
Rudi Heinrich, Acting Principal
Matthew Melillo
CONTRABASSOON
Matthew Melillo
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
PERCUSSION
Robert Klieger, Principal
Chris Riggs
PIANO
Melitta S. Pick Endowed Piano Chair
PERSONNEL
Antonio Padilla Denis, Director of Orchestra Personnel
Paris Myers, Assistant Manager of Orchestra Personnel
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
