MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY PROGRAM ONE 2025

SEPTEMBER — OCTOBER 2025

ENCORE

Volume 44 No. 1

15 September 13 & 14 — Classics A Hero’s Life

20 September 19 & 20 — Film Batman 1989

23 September 26 - 28 — Pops Disco Divas

29 October 3 - 5 — Classics Ode to Joy: Beethoven’s Ninth

37 October 10 & 11 — Classics D vořák’s S eventh Symphony

43 October 17 & 18 — Classics

Mendelssohn’s Reformation

5 Orchestra Roster

7 Music Director

8 Music Director Laureate

9 Principal Pops Conductor

10 Associate Conductor

11 Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

58 MSO Endowment

Musical Legacy Society

59 Annual Fund

61 Corporate & Foundation

62 Matching Gifts 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

• First Stage

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.

Works of Erwin Schulhoff, Viktor Ullmann, and Robert Schumann

Frank Almond, violin

Clay Hancock, violin

Anthony Devroye, viola

Alexander Hersh, cello

Victor Asuncion, piano

Works of Béla Bartók, Ernst Toch, Gideon Klein, and Pavel Haas

Eugene Drucker, violin

Frank Almond, violin

Brian Hong, viola

Roberta Cooper, cello

Cliff Almond, percussion

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 36th 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. The ACE program serves 5,500 students, teachers, and administrators in the Milwaukee area every year.

Photo by Jonathan Kirn

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, Assistant 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 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 2025.26 Season

** Acting member of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra 2025.26 Season

KEN-DAVID MASUR, MUSIC DIRECTOR

Hailed as “fearless, bold, and a life-force” (San Diego UnionTribune) and “a brilliant and commanding conductor with unmistakable charisma” (Leipziger Volkszeitung), Ken-David Masur is celebrating his seventh 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 and bridge-building, 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 a new 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 artist-in-residence program, and he has led highly acclaimed performances of major choral works, including a semi-staged production of Peer Gynt

In the 2025-26 season, Masur will lead celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus, featuring performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Missa solemnis, as well as Bach’s St. Matthew Passion as part of the MSO’s third Bach Week. Ken-David Masur and the MSO will reunite with longtime collaborators such as Augustin Hadelich, Orion Weiss, Stewart Goodyear, Nancy Zhou, and Bill Barclay and Concert Theatre Works for a special project celebrating America’s 250th birthday with a program interweaving the music of Aaron Copland with the words of Mark Twain. In Chicago, Masur leads the Civic Orchestra, the premier training ensemble of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, in a wide range of programs, including its annual Bach Marathon.

Masur has conducted orchestras around the world, including Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, l’Orchestre National de France, Kristiansand Symphony, NFM Wrocław Philharmonic in Poland, and Tokyo’s Yomiuri Nippon Symphony. He makes regular festival appearances at Ravinia, Tanglewood, the Hollywood Bowl, Verbier, the Pacific Music Festival, and the Oregon Bach Festival. Masur is passionate about contemporary music and has conducted and commissioned numerous new works from living composers, including Wynton Marsalis, Augusta Read Thomas, and Unsuk Chin, among others. He has recorded with the English Chamber Orchestra and the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and received a Grammy Award nomination from the Latin Recording Academy for the album Salón Buenos Aires.

Masur and his wife, pianist Melinda Lee Masur, are founders and artistic directors of the Chelsea Music Festival, an annual summer festival in New York City with programs ranging from Baroque and classical to contemporary and jazz, placing a special emphasis on the intersection of the culinary and visual arts. The festival celebrated its 16th anniversary in 2025 and 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.”

Born and raised in Leipzig, Germany, Masur was trained at the Mendelssohn Academy in Leipzig, the Gewandhaus Children’s Choir, the Detmold Academy, and the “Hanns Eisler” Conservatory in Berlin. While an undergraduate at Columbia University in New York, Masur became the first music director of the Bach Society Orchestra and Chorus, with which he toured to Germany and recorded the music of J.S. Bach and his sons.

Music education and working with the next generation of young artists are of major importance to Masur. In addition to his work with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, he has conducted orchestras and led masterclasses at many international conservatories and festivals.

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. He also currently serves as principal pops conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and 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 a soloist on the worldwide telecast of The Grammy Awards. Millions have heard his trumpet and voice in 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, ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR

Now in his third season with the MSO and his first as its associate conductor, Ryan Tani has built a reputation for inventive programming, as well as an energetic connection with audiences in Milwaukee and beyond. At the MSO, he conducts a wide range of concerts — including education, family, pops, and classics — and has stepped in for Edo de Waart and led sold-out performances in his 2025 classics debut. He has served as cover conductor for the Minnesota Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Symphony, and Bozeman Symphony.

A committed advocate for new music, Tani was music director of Baltimore’s Occasional Symphony, commissioning over 20 works and supporting dozens of composers in just three years. At Yale, he served as conducting fellow of the Philharmonia and resident conductor of New Music New Haven, earning the Dean’s Prize for artistic excellence.

Tani’s community-focused work includes leading multiple ensembles across Montana, including the Bozeman, Missoula, Great Falls, and Montana State University symphonies. Committed to connecting with audiences off the podium, he also developed outreach programs, taught university courses, and fostered collaborations between artists and the public — efforts that continue to shape his approach today.

He holds degrees from Yale, the Peabody Institute, and the University of Southern California, and has studied with Marin Alsop, Peter Oundjian, Markand Thakar, Larry Rachleff, and Donald Schleicher. He lives in Milwaukee with his wife Bronte and his corgi Darby and enjoys cooking, reading, and playing violin.

MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY CHORUS

Photo by Jonathan Kirn

Established in 1976 as a joint effort between the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus has distinguished itself over the course of half a century as one of the preeminent choral ensembles in the United States. Celebrating their landmark 50th anniversary this season, the chorus will appear alongside the MSO in monumental masterworks by Bach, Beethoven, and Handel, as well as the MSO’s annual Holiday Pops concerts.

Founded by legendary choral pedagogue Margaret Hawkins, the chorus’s meteoric rise in the late 1970s broadened the orchestra’s repertoire and set a new standard of excellence in Milwaukee’s musical landscape. Under Hawkins’s baton, the chorus produced its first commercial recordings and made multiple appearances at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Their voices were heard in the MSO’s first radio broadcasts, receiving airtime nationally and internationally.

The chorus has made numerous guest appearances at the Ravinia Festival through the years, beginning in 1984 and as recently as 2019, performing with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, singing Gustav Mahler’s “Symphony of a Thousand.” Other collaborations include appearances with local performing arts groups, including the Milwaukee Ballet, Milwaukee Musaik, and Present Music.

The Milwaukee Symphony Chorus’s wide range of ability has been a signature of the ensemble throughout their history. They have moved seamlessly from works by Bach and Brahms to Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky, sung during a live screening of the film. Semi-staged productions of Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman and Grieg’s Peer Gynt are featured alongside performances with contemporary artists, such as their recent appearance with the esteemed mandolinist Chris Thile. Their repertoire spans the centuries, regularly placing their enormous versatility on full display.

Made up of musicians from every walk of life, the 150 members of the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus devote countless volunteer hours every season preparing and performing the great cornerstones of the symphonic literature with an unqualified love for their craft.

To learn more about becoming a member of the chorus, visit mso.org/chorus.

CHORUS MEMBERS & STAFF

Jahnavi Acharya

Anna Aiuppa

Mia Akers

Laura Albright-Wengler

Alexander Z. Alden

Anthony Andronczyk

James Anello

Evan Bagwell

u Thomas R. Bagwell

Barbara Czarkowski

Scott Bass

Mary Ann Beatty

Marshall Beckman

Emily Bergeron

JoAnn Berk

Edward Blumenthal

Alice Boesky

Jillian Boes

u Scott Bolens

Madison Bolt

Neil R. Brooks

Riley Brown

Michelle Budny

Ellen N. Burmeister

Gabrielle Campbell

Gerardo Carcar

Elise Cismesia

Sarah M. Cook

Amanda Coplan

Sarah Culhane

Phoebe Dawsey

Colin Destache

Rebeca A. Dishaw

Megan Kathleen Dixson

Rachel Dutler

James Edgar

Joe Ehlinger

Jack W. Ellis

Kaleigh Ellis

John Erzberger

Katelyn Farebrother

Michael Faust

Catherine Fettig

STAFF

u

Marty Foral

Madison Francis

Karen Frink

Maria Fuller

Haley Gabriel

James T. Gallup

Jonah Gaster

Jonathan Gaston-Falk

William Gesch

Samantha Gibson

Jessica Golinski

Mark R. Hagner

Mary Hamlin

Beth Harenda

u Karen Heins

Mary Catherine Helgren

Kurt Hellermann

Melissa Kay Herbst

Nathan Hickox-Young

Eric Hickson

Michelle Hiebert

Laura Hochmuth

Mara Hoffman

Amy Hudson

Matthew Hunt

John Itson

u

Tina Itson

Jane Jaikumar Knight

Christine Jameson

Paula J. Jeske

Robin Jette

John Jorgensen

Heidi L. Kastern

Summer Ketchell

Christin Kieckhafer

Katherine Kondratuk

Jill Kortebein

Kaleigh Kozak-Lichtman

Kyle J. Kramer

u Joseph M. Krechel

Julia M. Kreitzer

Savannah Grace Kroeger

Harry Krueger

Cheryl Frazes Hill, chorus director

Timothy J. Benson, assistant director

Terree Shofner-Emrich, primary pianist

Benjamin Kuhlmann

Alexandra Lerch-Gaggl

Robert Lochhead

Sarah Magid

Grace Majewski

Rachel Maki

Douglas R. Marx

Ethan T. Masarik

Joy Mast

Justin J. Maurer

Betsy McCool

Hilary Merline

Kristine Mielcarek

Kathleen O. Miller

Megan Miller

Marjorie Moon

Bailey Moorhead

Jennifer Mueller

Matthew Neu

Kristin Nikkel

Jason Niles

Maggie Noffke

Alice Nuteson

Robert Paddock

Daniel Edward Parks

Heather Pierce

R. Scott Pierce

u Jessica E. Pihart

Bianca Pratte

Abby Prom

Kaitlin Quigley

Mary Rafel

Jason Reuschlein

Rehanna Rexroat

James Reynolds

Marc Charles Ricard

Amanda Robison

Shawn W. Runningen

u Bridget Sampson

James Sampson

Joshua S. Samson

Darwin J. Sanders

Alana Sawall

Brian J. Schalk

Sarah Schmeiser

Rand C. Schmidt

Randy Schmidt

u Allison Schnier

Andrew T. Schramm

Matthew Seider

Bennett Shebesta

~Hannah Sheppard

David Siegworth

Samuel Skogstad

Bruce Soto

u Joel P. Spiess

u Todd Stacey

u Donald E. Stettler

Scott Stieg

Donna Stresing

Sara Strommen

Shannon Sweeney

Joseph Thiel

Clare Urbanski

Bobbi Jo Vandal

Matthew Van Hecke

Maria Waldkirch

Stephanie Weeden

Tess Weinkauf

Emma Mingesz Weiss

Amy Weyers

Erin Weyers

Cameron Wilkins

Christina Williams

Emilie Williams

Sally Witte

Kevin R. Woller

Rachel Yap

Andrew York

Ben Young

Jamie M. Yu

Katarzyna Zawislak

Stephanie Zimmer

u Section Leader

Melissa Cardamone, Jeong-In Kim, rehearsal pianists

Darwin J. Sanders, language/diction coach

Christina Williams, chorus manager

DR. CHERYL FRAZES HILL, CHORUS DIRECTOR

Dr. Cheryl Frazes Hill is now in her ninth season as director of the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus. During their landmark 50th anniversary season, Frazes Hill will prepare the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus for classical performances that include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, and Beethoven’s Missa solemnis.

Frazes Hill also serves as associate conductor of the Chicago Symphony Chorus. In that role, she has prepared the Chorus for maestros Alsop, Boulez, Barenboim, Conlon, Levine, Mehta, Salonen, and Tilson Thomas, among 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

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. 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 her 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.

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 the Ravinia Festival’s Breaking Barriers series, providing seminars for Taki Alsop female conducting fellows.

A HERO’S LIFE

Saturday, September 13, 2025 at 7:30 pm

Sunday, September 14, 2025 at 2:30 pm

ALLEN-BRADLEY HALL

Ken-David Masur, conductor

Stewart Goodyear, piano

ANDREA TARRODI Festouvertyr

MAURICE RAVEL

Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D major, M. 82 Stewart Goodyear, piano

INTERMISSION

RICHARD STRAUSS

Ein Heldenleben [A Hero’s Life], Opus 40, TrV 190

I. Der Held [The Hero]

II. Des Helden Widersacher [The Hero’s Adversaries]

III. Des Helden Gefährtin [The Hero’s Companion]

IV. Des Helden Walstatt [The Hero at Battle]

V. Des Helden Friedenswerke [The Hero’s Works of Peace]

VI. Des Helden Weltflucht und Vollendung [The Hero’s Retirement from this World and Completion]

Jinwoo Lee, violin

The MSO Steinway was made possible through a generous gift from MICHAEL AND JEANNE SCHMITZ. The 2025.26 Classics Series is presented by the UNITED PERFORMING ARTS FUND and ROCKWELL AUTOMATION

The length of this concert is approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Guest Artist Biographies

STEWART GOODYEAR

Proclaimed “a phenomenon” by the Los Angeles Times and “one of the best pianists of his generation” by The Philadelphia Inquirer, Stewart Goodyear is an accomplished concert pianist, improviser, and composer. Goodyear has performed with, and has been commissioned by, many of the major orchestras and chamber music organizations around the world.

Last year, Orchid Classics released Goodyear’s recording of his suite for piano and orchestra, Callaloo, and his piano sonata. His recent commissions include works for violinist Miranda Cuckson, cellist Inbal Segev, the Penderecki String Quartet, the Horszowski Trio, the Honens Piano Competition, and the Chineke! Foundation. Goodyear made his BBC Proms debut performing Callaloo with the Chineke! Orchestra under Andrew Grams in the fall of 2024.

Goodyear’s discography includes Beethoven’s complete sonatas and piano concerti, as well as concerti by Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Rachmaninoff, and Prokofiev, an album of Ravel’s piano works, and an album, entitled For Glenn Gould, which combines repertoire from Gould’s U.S. and Montreal debuts. His recordings have been released on the Naxos, Marquis Classics, Orchid Classics, Bright Shiny Things, and Steinway & Sons labels. Goodyear released his recording of concerti by Mendelssohn and Schumann, along with two of his original compositions, on Orchid Classics in February 2025.

Highlights for the 2025-26 season are his performances at the Rheingau Musik Festival, the Stratford Music Festival, and performances with Philharmonie Südwestfalen, the St. Louis,

Program notes by David Jensen

ANDREA TARRODI

Born 9 October 1981; Stockholm, Sweden

Festouvertyr

Composed: 2021

First performance: 3 December 2021; Anja Bihlmaier, conductor; Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra

Last MSO performance: MSO Premiere

Instrumentation: 2 flutes; 2 oboes; 2 clarinets; 2 bassoons (2nd doubling on contrabassoon); 4 horns; 3 trumpets; 2 trombones; bass trombone; tuba; timpani; percussion (bass drum, snare drum, suspended cymbals); harp; strings

Approximate duration: 4 minutes

At the forefront of contemporary composers breaking new sonic ground in the 21st century, Andrea Tarrodi’s music has been heard on five continents and has been performed by some of the world’s finest orchestras, including the BBC Philharmonic, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, among many others. Characterized by their shimmering textures, breathtaking naturalistic effects, and nuanced shadings, her works have resounded throughout classical music’s most prestigious concert halls, including the Barbican Centre, Royal Albert Hall, and Vienna’s Musikverein.

Tarrodi’s formal studies took her to the Piteå School of Music in northern Sweden, where she studied composition and arranging, the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, and the “Francesco Morlacchi” conservatory in Perugia, Italy, before returning to the Royal College to complete her master’s degree in composition in 2009. A frequent prizewinner, Tarrodi’s album of string quartets, recorded by the Dahlkvist Quartet, received a Swedish Grammy Award for Best Classical Album of the Year in 2018 — the same year her piano concerto Stellar Clouds was named Classical Music of the Year by the Swedish Music Publisher’s Awards.

Written on a commission from the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Festouvertyr (which loosely translates to “Festive Overture”) honors the 25th anniversary of the Sten A. Olsson Foundation for Research and Culture, a charitable organization devoted to funding innovations in science, technology, medicine, and the humanities. Tarrodi, who has synesthesia (a condition in which one sense perception can act as a catalyst for a secondary sensory experience), has described her approach to composition as visual in nature, associating particular chords and pitches with certain colors and illustrating her musical ideas in drawings and paintings; in four exhilarating minutes, Festouvertyr leverages this remarkable sensitivity to instrumental timbre while delighting in its own strikingly original soundscape.

Beginning with a brassy fanfare in quartile harmonies and a flurry of silvery scales, bristling woodwinds sound polyrhythmic harmonies as the sweeping plush of the accompanying strings and soaring voluntaries in the trumpets blend into a wash of sound, calling to mind the verdant, kaleidoscopic scores of Jean Sibelius. Even as Baroque fragments of the “Nobel Fanfare” (originally derived from music by André Danican Philidor, a French composer who served the royal family at Versailles) and Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks flitter about, the music gives the impression of a glowing, spacious landscape depicted in purely aural terms. Rather than concluding with bombast or spectacle, the music simply dissolves into silence as the suspended cymbals wash away the watercolor splendor of this delightfully crafted miniature.

MAURICE RAVEL

Born 7 March 1875; Ciboure, France

Died 28 December 1937; Paris, France

Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D major, M. 82

Composed: 1929 – 1930

First performance: 5 January 1932; Robert Heger, conductor; Paul Wittgenstein, piano; Vienna Symphony Orchestra

Last MSO performance: 18 September 1977; Kenneth Schermerhorn, conductor; Michel Block, piano

Instrumentation: 3 flutes (3rd doubling on piccolo); 2 oboes; English horn; 2 clarinets; E-flat clarinet; bass clarinet; 2 bassoons; contrabassoon; 4 horns; 3 trumpets; 3 trombones; tuba; timpani; percussion (bass drum, cymbals, snare drum, tam-tam, triangle, wood block); harp; strings

Approximate duration: 19 minutes

By the late 1920s, Maurice Ravel was widely recognized as one of the greatest musical magicians of his generation. A fine pianist with an incomparable mastery of instrumental color and a seemingly boundless imagination, his diaphanous orchestral scores offered glimpses of a luminous, ethereal world just beyond the stage. Seemingly unconcerned by matters of wealth or critical success — despite his status as the most celebrated French composer of his day — his music was the fruit of a slow, meticulous, and intelligent creative process that prompted Igor Stravinsky to describe him as “the most perfect of Swiss watchmakers.”

The cataclysm of World War I, followed by the death of his mother in 1917, significantly diminished Ravel’s productivity, and in 1921, he left his life in the city behind to settle in a small home on the outskirts of Montfort-l’Amaury. Despite the slower rhythm of his life in the countryside, Ravel began touring as a pianist with greater frequency throughout the 1920s, and the few works he did compose in the postwar years of his life remain some of his most inspired realizations. His successful tour of North America in 1928, colored by its vibrant cityscapes and the tantalizing sounds of jazz, left an enormous impression: having already composed a wealth of ravishing music for the piano, he decided he would, in his sixth decade, author his first piano concerto. He would soon unwittingly find himself in the position of writing two at the same time.

Like Ravel, the Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein had been indelibly altered by the Great War. He had just made a successful public debut in Vienna in 1913 when the war arrived, and by August 1914, he was taken prisoner of war by the Russians after having had his right arm amputated on the battlefield. When he returned to Austria as part of prisoner exchange in 1915, he began commissioning left-handed works from a wide variety of composers, including Hindemith, Britten, Prokofiev, and Strauss, though it was Ravel’s brooding, incandescent score that would eventually find favor as the most popular work in Wittgenstein’s new repertory. Ravel set aside the draft he had begun for himself (what would eventually become the jazz-inflected piano concerto in G), but the collaboration was fraught with conflicts of personality. Wittgenstein objected to the lengthy cadenza in the concerto’s introduction, telling Ravel that “If I wanted to play without the orchestra, I wouldn’t have commissioned a concerto!” Wittgenstein made matters worse by cutting and rewriting entire passages, shocking Ravel by performing his heavily revised “interpretation” at the French embassy in Vienna ahead of its premiere. To both their displeasure, Ravel eventually convinced Wittengenstein to play the work as written.

Unlike the extroverted, high-flying theatrics that characterize his concerto in G, its left-handed counterpart is made up of churning, dusky music which probes the depths of its own contents: “From the opening measures,” the musicologist Henry Prunières wrote, “we are plunged into a world in which Ravel has but rarely introduced us.” Composed as a single continuous movement, the opening measures give the impression of a subterranean world, rising as it does from the

depths of the orchestra before erupting in a tremendous cadenza elaborating upon the first section’s primary musical material. The center of the concerto is a martial, spritely scherzo that draws on the incisive rhythms and piquant harmonies of American jazz, and the work reaches its apotheosis as Ravel interweaves the concerto’s themes into a sensuous, shimmering cadenza before a final fanfare from the orchestra draws the music to its earth-shattering conclusion.

RICHARD STRAUSS

Born 11 June 1864; Munich, Germany

Died 8 September 1949; Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

Ein Heldenleben [A Hero’s Life], Opus 40, TrV 190

Composed: July – 27 December 1898

First performance: 3 March 1899; Richard Strauss, conductor; Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester

Last MSO performance: 22 January 2011; Edo de Waart, conductor Instrumentation: piccolo; 3 flutes; 4 oboes (4th doubling on English horn); 2 clarinets; E-flat clarinet; bass clarinet; 3 bassoons; contrabassoon; 8 horns; 2 piccolo trumpets; 3 trumpets; 3 trombones; tenor tuba; tuba; timpani; percussion (bass drum, cymbals, military drum, suspended cymbals, tam-tam, tenor drum, triangle); 2 harps; strings

Approximate duration: 40 minutes

Strauss’s eighth tone poem arrived at the close of the 19th century as the artistic high point of his revolutionary efforts in the genre. Comparable in scope and peculiarity only to Hector Berlioz’s phantasmagorical Symphonie fantastique, Ein Heldenleben capitalized on the coloristic and textural palettes now accessible by means of the newly modernized orchestra, calling for an enormous battery of instrumentalists in painting an unabashedly self-referential portrait of the artist’s life. While Strauss equivocated throughout his life as to whether or not the work was in fact autobiographical in nature, it’s difficult to extricate the megalomaniacal image of the composer from a piece containing dozens of musical quotations from his own canon.

Not without resistance from the intellectual public, the very last years of the century had enshrined Strauss in Europe’s musical spheres as the de facto emissary of modern music. In a span of five years, an enormous body of tone poetry and lieder flowed from the composer’s pen, transmuting the emotive urgency of the Romantics into a new, wildly imaginative medium. It was during a stay at a Bavarian resort in the summer of 1898 that he began to conceive of a work in the vein of Beethoven’s Eroica which was to represent, in his own words, “not a single poetical or historical figure, but rather a more general and free ideal of great and manly heroism.”

While Strauss himself was only responsible for the individual titles of each movement (which he would later request be struck from subsequent publications, preferring his work to be evaluated on purely musical terms), the implied narrative of the piece has been widely interpreted by audiences as a depiction of Strauss’s personal rivalry against Germany’s musical critics, colored by the Nietzschean conflict between the self-actualized individual and his place in civil society. The “adversaries” of the second movement, portrayed by chattering woodwinds and low brass, are the same detractors that take the hero to war, a battle distinguished by its thundering fanfares and halted only by the hero’s “works of peace,” wherein Strauss liberally intersperses themes from his opera Guntram, no less than six of his tone poems, and two art songs.

At the center of the drama is the artist’s “companion,” acknowledged by the composer as a direct illustration of his wife, Pauline de Ahna; her role, alternately capricious and poignant, is assigned to the concertmaster, whose elaborate cadenzas embody the woman Strauss described as “very complex, a trifle perverse, a trifle coquettish, never the same, changing from minute to minute.”

BATMAN 1989

FILM WITH ORCHESTRA

Friday, September 19, 2025 at 7:30 pm

Saturday, September 20, 2025 at 7:30 pm

ALLEN-BRADLEY HALL

Ryan Tani, conductor

WARNER BROS.

Presents

JACK NICHOLSON

MICHAEL KEATON

KIM BASINGER

A TIM BURTON FILM

IN CONCERT

Based upon characters appearing in magazines published by

DC COMICS, INC.

ROBERT WUHL

PAT HINGLE

BILLY DEE WILLIAMS

MICHAEL GOUGH and

JACK PALANCE

Casting

MARION DOUGHERTY

Costume Designer

BOB RINGWOOD

Ms. Basinger’s Costumes

LINDA HENRIKSON

Music

DANNY ELFMAN

Songs written and performed by PRINCE

Editor RAY LOVEJOY

Production Design

ANTON FURST

Director of Photography

ROGER PRATT B.S.C.

Based on Batman characters created by BOB KANE

Executive Producers

BENJAMIN MELNIKER and MICHAEL E. USLAN

Co-Producer

CHRIS KENNY

Screenplay

SAM HAMM and WARREN SKAAREN

Story

SAM HAMM

Produced by JON PETERS and PETER GUBER

Directed by TIM BURTON

Produced by TCG Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Discovery Concert

Score and Part Preparation

JAMES OLMSTEAD

Technical Services

BLACK INK PRESENTS

Today’s performance lasts approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes, including a 20-minute intermission. The performance is a presentation of the complete film Batman (1989) with a live performance of the film’s entire score. Out of respect for the musicians and your fellow audience members, please remain seated until the conclusion of the end credits.

Film projectors generously donated by MARCUS CORPORATION. This weekend’s media sponsor is ONMILWAUKEE.

Guest Artist Biographies

ABOUT BATMAN (1989)

Warner Bros. Pictures’ iconic DC Superhero film Batman was released on 23 June 1989. The Dark Knight, defender of law and order in Gotham City, treads the shadow zone between right and wrong, fighting with only his skill in martial arts and his keenly honed mind to defend the innocent and to purge the memory of his parents’ brutal murder — always keeping his true identity as millionaire philanthropist Bruce Wayne a closely guarded secret.

TCG ENTERTAINMENT

TCG Entertainment is a leading producer of creative content for live entertainment properties and touring productions. Owning multiple intellectual properties, and partnering with top IP holders and studios, TCG has generated decades worth of live family fun and entertainment. With a laundry list of productions enjoyed by millions of audience members around the globe, TCG is the leading authority in providing brands with a visionary, one-stop source for live touring and experiences. Current and past productions include DC Films in Concert, multiple productions of Cirque Musica, MasterChef Live, Rocky in Concert, A Night of Symphonic Rock, and more. tcgent.com

SACRA NOVA CHORALE presents:

Featuring works by Thompson, Schubert, Vivaldi, Mozart, and Beethoven; with the premiere of two new compositions

Friday, October 24 at 7:00 PM at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church & Sunday, October 26 at 4:00 PM at the Cathedral of St. John the For tickets and information on the 2025 concert season, please visit sacranovachorale.com

DISCO DIVAS

A Schirmer Theatrical/Greenberg Artists Co-Production

Arrangements by Jeff Tyzik

Friday, September 26, 2025 at 7:30 pm

Saturday, September 27, 2025 at 7:30 pm

Sunday, September 28, 2025 at 2:30 pm

ALLEN-BRADLEY HALL

Byron Stripling, conductor

Cherise Coaches, vocals

Kelly Levesque, vocals

Shayna Steele, vocals

Douglas Marriner, drums

Chris Kuffner, bass

A FIFTH OF BEETHOVEN by Ludwig van Beethoven and Walter Murphy

As recorded by Walter Murphy and The Big Apple Band

BAD GIRLS by Joseph Esposito, Edward Hokenson, Bruce Sudano, and Donna Summer

As recorded by Donna Summer

ROCK THE BOAT by Waldo T. Holmes

As recorded by The Hues Corporation

DON’T LEAVE ME THIS WAY by Kenneth Gamble, Cary Gilbert, and Leon A. Huff

As recorded by Thelma Houston

SHE WORKS HARD FOR THE MONEY by Michael Omartian and Donna Summer

As recorded by Donna Summer

STAYIN’ ALIVE by Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, and Robin Gibb

As recorded by The Bee Gees

YOU SHOULD BE DANCING by Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, and Robin Gibb

As recorded by The Bee Gees

I FEEL LOVE by Peter Bellotte, Giorgio G. Moroder, and Donna Summer

As recorded by Donna Summer

LAST DANCE by Paul Jabara

As recorded by Donna Summer

AIN’T NO STOPPIN’ US NOW by Jerry Cohen, Gene McFadden, and John Whitehead

As recorded by McFadden and Whitehead

INTERMISSION

Continued on page 24

Continued from page 23

THE HUSTLE by Van McCoy

As recorded by Van McCoy and The Soul City Symphony

BOOGIE WONDERLAND by Jon Lind and Allee Willis

As recorded by Earth, Wind & Fire

GOOD TIMES by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers

As recorded by Chic

THAT’S THE WAY (I LIKE IT) by Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch

As recorded by KC and The Sunshine Band

HOT STUFF by Peter Bellotte, Harold Faltermeier, and Keith Forsey

As recorded by Donna Summer

NIGHT FEVER by Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, and Robin Gibb

As recorded by The Bee Gees

LADY MARMALDE by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan

As recorded by Patti Labelle

I WILL SURVIVE by Dino Fekaris and Freddie Perren

As recorded by Gloria Gayner

I’M COMING OUT by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers

As recorded by Diana Ross

WE ARE FAMILY by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers

As recorded by Sister Sledge

ALL ARRANGEMENTS LICENSED BY SCHIRMER THEATRICAL, LLC

Creative Team

Robert Thompson, Producer

Jeff Tyzik, Producer & Arranger

Jami Greenberg, Producer & Booking Agent

Betsey Perlmutter, Producer

Alex Kosick, Associate Producer

For more information on the music and artists featured in Disco Divas, use the QR code below to access the digital concert program.

This weekend’s media sponsor is WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO. The length of this concert is approximately 2 hours. All programs are subject to change.

Guest Artist Biographies

CHERISE COACHES

Cherise Coaches is a hardworking recording artist, songwriter, vocal coach, producer, and actress from the south suburbs of Chicago. With music as a hereditary gift, her formal education has only added to her ability to succeed at anything she puts her mind to.

Coaches attended Columbia College Chicago and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in vocal performance. During her time there, she got to work and share the stage with talents such as Grammy Award-winner Paula Cole, Brian Culbertson, and Mike Stern. She has also gone on to work with artists such as Jeremih, Carl Thomas, Kenny Latimore, Glen Jones, and many more.

In the fall of 2012, Coaches finally released her first official single on iTunes, “The Juice,” written by her and producer Tony Treble. She went on to release her Christmas EP in December of that year, Snowfall, which is also the single from the EP. Following that was her single “Ride For Ya,” which was released on SoundCloud in June 2017. Her latest single, “Rewind,” released in September of 2018, and can be found on all online music store and streaming platforms.

Coaches has made many waves in the acting world, as well. She made her co-star debut in season two of the Starz Network series The Chi. She also has many accomplishments in the theater, featuring in shows like Men of Soul (Black Ensemble Theater), Dreamgirls (Porchlight Music Theater), HAIR, where she portrayed Dionne (Geva Theatre Center and Mercury Theater Chicago), the North American Tour of Disenchanted as The Princess Who Kissed The Frog, and her favorite to date, portraying the role of Young Patti LaBelle in A New Attitude: In Tribute to Patti Labelle. Her work in the theater has earned her two nominations from The Black Theater Alliance as most promising actress and best featured actress in a musical, as well as Jeff Award wins and nominations.

KELLY LEVESQUE

Kelly Levesque is a New York-born singer-songwriter whose musical journey began at just three years old when her musician father recorded her first notes in the studio. Since then, her powerful voice and dynamic stage presence have led her to perform as a soloist on some of the world’s most prestigious stages, including the Royal Albert Hall, the Sydney Opera House, the Kennedy Center, the Budokan, Madison Square Garden, the Staples Center, and the White House.

Throughout her career, Levesque has shared the stage with dynamic artists such as Sting, Jamie Foxx, Andrea Bocelli, David Foster, Josh Groban, Michael Bolton, Smokey Robinson, John Legend, Patti LaBelle, and many more.

With a major label debut on Reprise Records at the age of 18, Levesque launched her international recording and touring career. She has earned two Top 5 Billboard Classical Crossover albums — one as part of the trio Three Graces and another as part of Diane Warren’s duet project Due Voci.

Continued on page 26

Guest Artist Biographies

Continued from page 25

Guided by her belief in creating music with meaning, Levesque uses her voice as a vehicle for change. Her original song “Never Forever” was written to raise awareness and funds for victims of domestic violence, supported by the Miss America Organization and the nonprofit Safe Horizon as part of their #PutTheNailInIt campaign. Another of her philanthropic works, “I Won’t Let You Down,” was written and gifted to the KNOWAutism Foundation to support children and families affected by autism.

Levesque’s voice can be heard on several film and television soundtracks, including America’s Sweethearts starring Julia Roberts and the title track of the latest Inspector Gadget series. She is also a featured vocalist in numerous national television and radio commercials.

Currently, Levesque is channeling her creativity into a new musical (for which there are Tony Award-winning producers attached!), writing the music, lyrics, and book alongside her husband, multi-platinum and Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter Fraser Walters.

SHAYNA STEELE

This dynamic vocalist puts new meaning to diversity and grassroots talent. Her natural ability to traverse musical genres, be it in the studio, on the stage, or on the screen, has kept her on the A-list of in-demand singers in the industry. Steele’s effortless execution of both soul and jazz has grabbed the attention of audiences globally, be it at the Monterey Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival with Snarky Puppy, or with symphony orchestras throughout North America.

In 2023, Steele debuted her solo symphony show, “American Diva,” featuring arrangements of her music and favorite covers, with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra alongside Grammy Award-winning conductor and composer Jeff Tyzik. She has performed as the guest soloist with over 100 North American orchestras, including the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and Detroit Symphony Orchestra, where she debuted her solo blues program “Nothin’ But the Blues.”

Throughout her career, Steele has lent her talent to leading artists such as Grammy Awardwinning trumpeter Chris Botti and Moby, whose tracks “Raining Again,” “Disco Lies,” and “Extreme Ways” featured her blockbuster vocals. Snarky Puppy’s Michael League handpicked Steele’s original track, “Gone Under,” for inclusion in their hit album Family Dinner — Volume 1 on Ropeadope Records, which has become a viral sensation with over two million views. No stranger to both the small and silver screens, Steele has sung on the Wicked, Hairspray, The Bourne Identity, and Sex and the City 2 soundtracks, as well as making a guest appearance on The Sopranos. She recently made an appearance in two episodes of the DC Comics series The Penguin, starring Colin Farrell, on HBO Max.

She has provided background vocals for artists such as Bette Midler, Rihanna, and Kelly Clarkson, along with other countless A-list stars. After going solo, writing, and putting her band together, Steele has released four studio albums, with her second album, Rise, reaching No. 2 on the U.S. iTunes jazz charts and No. 1 on the international jazz charts.

Steele holds a degree from the prestigious Berklee School of Music in interdisciplinary music studies and teaches private voice lessons virtually. She has been a guest artist for many college master classes and vocal workshops globally.

Guest Artist Biographies

DOUGLAS MARRINER

Douglas Marriner is a third-generation musician and a jazz drummer, actor, composer, and educator born in London, currently based in New York City.

Marriner regularly performs with many of America’s leading orchestras, including the Detroit, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Vancouver symphony orchestras. His recording of Derek Bermel’s Migrations Series with the Albany Symphony Orchestra, Juilliard Jazz Orchestra, and Ted Nash was nominated for a Grammy award in 2020.

In 2013, Marriner became the first British musician to be awarded a place in The Juilliard School’s prestigious jazz program on a scholarship. After completing his master’s degree, he was awarded the drum chair for the Artist Diploma Ensemble, where his sextet was coached by Wynton Marsalis and Kenny Barron, touring Europe, South America, and Japan. He has been fortunate enough to study with and be mentored by master musicians, including Kenny Washington, Billy Hart, Nasheet Waits, Wynton Marsalis, and André Previn.

Marriner is a passionate educator and was director of The Juilliard School’s Music Advancement Program percussion ensemble, in addition to teaching percussion lessons, coaching their orchestral musicians, and mentoring their young educators. He has also taught for Jazz at Lincoln Center’s education programs and summer schools, Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect, and the Jazz Arts Collective, and is on the teaching faculty at Fordham University, Bloomingdale School of Music, and the Louis Armstrong Foundation.

CHRIS KUFFNER

Chris Kuffner has been a professional bassist, guitarist, and music producer for 20 years. He has performed, produced, or recorded music with such visionary artists as Sara Bareilles, Regina Spektor, Ingrid Michaelson, David Byrne, Jason Mraz, A Great Big World, Jenny Owen Youngs, and many others.

After a lifetime in New York City, Chris recently relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, where he found himself making music with up-and-coming country artists like Caylee Hammack, Brooke Eden, and Chris Housman. He has also become a member of the Nashville-based Americana band Steele Fountain, a group of incredible players who have toured extensively with the likes of Sting and Steven Tyler.

Chris will be heading out on a U.S. tour performing with British blues guitar phenomenon Joanne Shaw Taylor in November before performing in Ingrid Michaelson’s Annual Holiday Hop concert in New York City this December.

Gabrielle Cavassa - October 18

Joshua Redman Quartet - November 8

Julian Lage - January 31

Emmet Cohen: Miles and Cotrane at 100 - February 27

Cecil and Ari Alexander - March 27

ODE TO JOY: BEETHOVEN’S NINTH

Friday, October 3, 2025 at 7:30 pm

Saturday, October 4, 2025 at 7:30 pm

Sunday, October 5, 2025 at 2:30 pm

ALLEN-BRADLEY HALL

Ken-David Masur, conductor

Kathryn Henry, soprano

Clara Osowski, mezzo-soprano

Russell Thomas, tenor

Stephano Park, bass

Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

Cheryl Frazes Hill, director

PAVEL HAAS

String Quartet No. 3, Opus 15

II. Lento, ma non troppo e poco rubato

Jinwoo Lee, violin

Jennifer Startt, violin

Victor de Almeida, viola

Susan Babini, cello

J.E. HERNÁNDEZ

Parallax (or 33,000 Stolen Sunsets) [World Premiere] *

INTERMISSION

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Opus 125, “Choral”

I. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso

II. Molto vivace

III. Adagio molto e cantabile

IV. Presto – Allegro assai – Allegro assai vivace

Kathryn Henry, soprano

Clara Osowski, mezzo-soprano

Russell Thomas, tenor

Stephano Park, bass

Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

The MSO is a proud participant in the Violins of Hope – Wisconsin residency.

* Commissioned by the Tanglewood Music Center with the generous support of the Paul Jacobs Memorial Fund.

The 2025.26 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.

Guest Artist Biographies

KATHRYN HENRY

This season, Kathryn Henry makes her European debut as Desdemona (Otello) at Theater Bonn and appears as Micaëla (Carmen) with Dayton Opera. She joins the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for Beethoven’s “Ah, perfido!” under Fabio Luisi, sings Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Milwaukee and Sheboygan symphony orchestras, and competes in the Paris Opera Competition finals.

In the 2024-25 season, Henry debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in Die Frau ohne Schatten and with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, singing Gutrune and Third Norn (Götterdämmerung) and Helmwige (Die Walküre). She also appeared as the Countess (Le nozze di Figaro) with North Carolina Opera, reprised Micaëla with the Florentine Opera, and performed Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra.

In the 2023-24 season, Henry stepped in as the title role in Janáček’s Jenůfa at the Lyric Opera of Chicago under the baton of conductor Jakub Hrůša. An emerging voice with a remarkable affinity for the music of Richard Strauss, Henry also debuted with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra that season, performing Strauss’s Four Last Songs

She earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Opera Recording for her portrayal of Lucy Harker in the studio recording of The Lord of Cries by John Corigliano and Mark Adamo following her acclaimed debut in the opera at Santa Fe Opera.

CLARA OSOWSKI

In the 2025-26 season, mezzo-soprano Clara Osowski appears with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra under Ken-David Masur in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra for Holidays at the Hotel. She joins the Bach Society of Minnesota for Vivaldi’s cantatas and arias, the Bach Society of St. Louis for Mozart’s Requiem, and returns to the Schubert Club for both a Courtroom Concert and a U.K. recital tour. Additional engagements include Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Seattle Bach Festival and songs by Lili Boulanger with the University of Washington Orchestra.

Recent highlights include collaborations with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra for songs by Charles Ives and Handel’s Messiah, the Rochester Philharmonic for Mozart’s Requiem, the South Dakota Symphony for Mozart’s Mass in C minor, Requiem, and Arvo Pärt’s Stabat Mater, the Kansas City Symphony for Handel’s Messiah, and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra for Mozart’s Requiem and Mendelssohn’s Elijah. She made her London debut at Wigmore Hall, appeared with Chicago’s Music of the Baroque in Handel’s Jephtha (also released on recording) and Bach’s St. John Passion, and performed Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Delaware Symphony. A frequent collaborator with the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Osowski has sung Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and Dominick Argento’s Casa Guidi and A Few Words About Chekhov.

Guest Artist Biographies

RUSSELL THOMAS

Tenor Russell Thomas’s 2025-26 season includes his return to the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Canio in Pagliacci (which he sang there during the COVID-19 pandemic for a filmed production), to the Opéra national de Paris for Don José in Carmen, and to the Canadian Opera Company for his debut in the title role of Werther. In concert, he will be heard as the tenor soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and in Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Future projects include returns to the Metropolitan Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Royal Ballet and Opera, the Washington National Opera, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the London Symphony Orchestra.

Recent highlights include Thomas’s returns to the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Florestan in Fidelio, the Metropolitan Opera for his first Kaiser in Die Frau ohne Schatten, and the Houston Grand Opera for his first sensational Tannhäuser. In concert, he sang Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the San Francisco Opera and his first Énée in Les Troyens at the Seattle Opera, and he appeared as Don José in Carmen for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and as Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana for the Canadian Opera Company.

STEPHANO PARK

South Korean bass Stephano Park was named the winner of Operalia 2023 in Cape Town, South Africa. Highlights of the 2025-26 season include a house and role debut as Uncle Bonze in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at Calgary Opera, his Chicago Symphony debut in performances of Mozart’s Requiem conducted by Manfred Honeck, and his debut with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 led by Ken-David Masur.

Last season saw Park make numerous house and role debuts, including as the title role in a new production of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro at the Korean National Opera, as Mandarino in Puccini’s Turandot at the Baltic Opera Festival under the baton of Keri-Lynn Wilson, and as Gran Sacerdote in concert performances of Verdi’s Nabucco for Opéra de Toulon. On the concert platform, Park made his debut with the Korean National Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Verdi’s Requiem conducted by Roberto Abbado and made his festival debut at the Daejeon Grand Festival alongside Hera Hyesang Park in recital.

Park recently completed his second season as part of the Wiener Staatsoper’s opera studio, where roles have included Walter Furst in Rossini’s Guillaume Tell, Lodovico in Verdi’s Otello, Sid in Puccini’s La fanciulla del West, Fouquier-Tinville in Giordano’s Andrea Chénier, Jailer in Puccini’s Tosca, Hans Schwarz in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and the second soldier in Strauss’s Salome.

Park trained at Seoul National University and continues his studies at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, studying with Attila Jun, Jennifer Larmore, and Karlheinz Hanser.

Program notes by David Jensen

PAVEL HAAS

Born 21 June 1899; Brno, Austria-Hungary (now the Czech Republic) Died 17 October 1944; Auschwitz-Birkenau, German-occupied Poland

String Quartet No. 3, Opus 15

Composed: October 1937 – 1938

First performance: Unknown

Last MSO performance: MSO Premiere

Instrumentation: 2 violins; viola; cello

Approximate duration: 6 minutes

The Theresienstadt ghetto, established in the Czech Republic by the Nazis in November 1941, played a peculiar role during the Holocaust. Designed as a layover for prisoners being transported to the extermination camps, the ghetto at Terezín was home to an unusually vibrant cultural life — composers, artists, and intellectuals gave concerts, rendered their conditions in paintings and drawings, and attended lectures on theology, fine art, and the sciences, producing a vivid record of the horrors of their internment.

It is an articulation of one of the cruelest aspects of human nature that the artistic activities at Theresienstadt were cultivated by the Nazis with the express purpose of being leveraged as propaganda to undermine the reports of genocide then circling the globe. Visitors were treated to performances of classical music and provided with fabricated statistics about quality of life in the encampment. The music composed under duress was exploited in “documentary” films meant to convince the world of an utterly distorted portrait of the prisoners’ lives, suggesting that the Jewish citizens and ethnic minorities dying there were in fact enjoying a higher standard of living than the average German citizen. In one of the films, Pavel Haas can be seen taking a bow following a performance of his music. After three years at Theresienstadt, he would be transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau in October 1944 and murdered in the gas chambers.

Born the son of a shoemaker father and a Jewish mother, he took piano lessons as a child before entering the Brno Conservatory in 1919, where he attended Leoš Janáček’s master class. Haas quickly proved himself as Janáček’s best pupil, not only perfecting the master’s approach to composition, which imitated the rhythms of the Czech language and gave greater structural emphasis to short rhythmic cells, but expanded upon his teacher’s musical language by integrating elements of Moravian folk song, Jewish chant, and even jazz. Despite a relatively slight catalogue of a few dozen extant works, Haas composed in a wide variety of styles, scoring films and writing for theatrical productions in addition to composing chamber, orchestral, and vocal music.

With the advent of Nazi Germany and the wave of anti-Jewish legislation that followed, performances of his music were banned, and he and his wife Soňa were forbidden to seek employment. Efforts to secure safe passage to America came too late, and Haas divorced his wife to ensure that his family would survive the fate he himself could not avoid. It was in this climate of terror that Haas composed his third string quartet; the slow inner movement presented here begins with a forlorn, pained expression by the viola. Occasionally interrupted by the strains of something resembling a folk tune played by the violin, the language is dissonant and abrupt, alternating between simpler modal harmonies and an anguished chromaticism. The last of his quartets, the music serves as a document of one man’s suffering under fascism.

J.E. HERNÁNDEZ

Born 17 December 1993; Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico

Parallax (or 33,000 Stolen Sunsets)

Composed: 2024 – 2025

First performance: 3 October 2025; Ken-David Masur, conductor; Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra

Last MSO performance: World Premiere

Instrumentation: 2 flutes (2nd doubling on piccolo); 2 oboes; clarinet; bass clarinet; 2 bassoons; 4 horns; 3 trumpets; 2 trombones; bass trombone; tuba; timpani; percussion (bass drum, drum set, temple blocks, vibraphone); harp; piano; strings

Approximate duration: 10 minutes

The following essay was prepared by the composer and appears here with his permission.

In 2013, I stood incarcerated for 60 days inside an ICE prison in Houston, Texas. My time there was multifaceted, both in the depth of its misery and the profundity of its meaning. Back then, it was mandated that every single day there had to be 33,000 people detained inside of U.S. migrant detention centers. Of the myriad experiences that colored my time there, one that I have kept thinking about is how, without see-through windows in the prison, we never saw the sun set and rise. Of my entire life, and of the lives of those 33,000 people who were there with me, we missed sunrises and sunsets that we will never get back. It struck me how I couldn’t think of a more primordial thing to be denied than the right of us as living beings to see the sun. The sun, which has provided us with warmth, energy, and has been an inexorable ingredient in life since time immemorial, was stolen from us.

I had been thinking of this piece for a long time, and over the course of that time, I made a connection to the visual phenomena of parallax. This is the name for the sensation where the background seems to be moving slower than the foreground, something we observe as we walk, run, drive, or fly. Stellar parallax is used to measure the distance of celestial bodies against a background of stars. I settled on this property of parallax — distance — and its parallels in our lives. I thought about the distances that permeate us: physical, temporal, cultural, and social distance, always from one point to another, distorting our views of ourselves and the other. I thought about how when we have a falling out with someone, even if they are physically close to us, there is a distance created that is immediate, biting, like a vast and cold ocean. And I also thought about a distance that we can feel to a culture; a closeness, a warmth, something that is infinitesimally close and near. Misery and joy are so close together, always on the verge of pouring into one another. When I learned I would be leaving the ICE center, I leapt for joy and screamed at the top of my lungs. It’s a powerful idea that things can overlap like that — joy and misery — and how that’s a fact of life. In some ways, that’s what this piece is about.

Musically, the structure of this piece follows those principles. I set out to create an architectural structure for the orchestration and the combinations of musical matter and instruments which follows a proverbial observer navigating the orchestra from one point to another, observing this musical parallax — of ideas, music, form, and shapes — unfold. In this way, the piece yields some uncommon combinations of instruments and ideas. I incorporated elements from previous versions of the piece, ultimately leading the work towards something psychedelic in nature, a bit unusual, yet familiar, exploring this ground of difference and distance. This work is not an articulation of a societal sickness (which I certainly think the system of ICE detention is); instead, I offer an intimate look at the gamut of feelings and thoughts that have been persistent within me as time marches on after that period of my life. It is an invitation into an array of states of being — a meditation, a prayer, immense frustration, countless tears, endless oppression, and immense happiness.

Trust Your Health to One of Milwaukee’s Most Respected Medical Practices.

It’s important to choose a physician who will listen closely to your needs and respond genuinely to your concerns. Fortunately for you and your family, our physicians have been providing exceptional care in Milwaukee and Ozaukee for over 120 years.

Unchu Ko, MD David Lucke, MD Rachel Oosterbaan, MD John Sanidas, MD Abraham Varghese, MD James Volberding, MD

Kathleen Baugrud, MD Avi Bernstein, MD John Betz, MD

Matthew Connolly, MD Kevin DiNapoli, MD

Deidre Faust, MD

David Goldberg, MD Scott Jorgensen, MD

Carmen Balding, MD Camile Hexsel, MD MOHS SURGERY

Keely Browning, MD Abdullah Fayyad, MD Gene Kligman, MD Venelin Kounev, MD Srihari Ramanujam, MD Chad Stepke, MD

Amy DeGueme, MD Elaine Drobny, MD Antoni Gofron, MD

Usonwanne Ibekwe, MD Brent Jones, MD Kawaljeet Kaur, MD

Anne Lent, MD Kristin Schroederus, MD

Nicolette Deveneau, MD Erica Eggers, MD

Amanda Cooper, MD Tracy Donahue, MD

Michael Knabel, MD Valerie Lyon, MD Jack Maloney, MD Jason Rosenberg, MD

Debra Scarlett, MD

Thorsteinn Skulason, MD Heather Wells, MD

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

Born 17 December 1770; Bonn, Germany

Died 26 March 1827; Vienna, Austria

Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Opus 125, “Choral”

Composed: 1817 – February 1824

First performance: 7 May 1824; Ludwig van Beethoven and Michael Umlauf, conductors; Henriette Sontag, soprano; Caroline Unger, contralto; Anton Haizinger, tenor; Joseph Seipelt; bassbaritone; Theater am Kärntnertor

Last MSO performance: 19 June 2022; Ken-David Masur, conductor; Felicia Moore, soprano; Deborah Nansteel, mezzo-soprano; Andrew Haji, tenor; Nathan Berg, bass-baritone

Instrumentation: piccolo; 2 flutes; 2 oboes; 2 clarinets; 2 bassoons; contrabassoon; 4 horns; 2 trumpets; 3 trombones; timpani; percussion (bass drum, cymbals, triangle); strings

Approximate duration: 65 minutes

It is difficult to write about the ninth in anything other than superlatives. It is not an exaggeration to suggest that no single work has exerted as profound an influence on the development of socalled art music in the West as the last of Beethoven’s symphonies, nor can it be evaluated on any other terms than as one of the sovereign artistic triumphs in human history. After more than 200 years of enjoying a celebrated status as one of the most frequently performed symphonic works in the world, its contents remain some of the most shocking, radical expressions of the transcendental ideal to be found in any music of any age.

By the late 1810s, the bitter hardship of battling for custody of his late brother’s son, Karl, his failed attempts at romance, and the tragedy of his worsening deafness had driven the composer to largely withdraw from society. He no longer understood the prevailing musical climate of his beloved Vienna, and now keenly aware of the fact that his time was running out, his music began taking on a more experimental (and at times overwhelmingly intimate) character as Beethoven began searching for an ever more direct means of articulating his interior experience. In 1817, Beethoven received a commission for two new symphonies from the Philharmonic Society of London, but his years of privation and rapidly declining health delayed the ninth’s completion by seven years.

As early as 1793, he had expressed interest in setting the text of Friedrich Schiller’s An die Freude, and his “Choral Fantasy” of 1808 had already foreshadowed his integration of the human voice into the symphonic structure; by 1823, the year in which most of the writing of the ninth took place, these inspirations had crystallized into a boldly speculative vision of the genre’s future. When the ninth premiered in the spring of 1824, a decade had passed since Beethoven’s last appearance on the stage, and the musical intelligentsia of Vienna crowded into the Theater am Kärntnertor in eager expectation. Despite Beethoven’s total deafness, he conducted the musical forces he could not hear (the actual responsibility of keeping time fell to Michael Umlauf, who shared the stage with the composer) in a performance that would assume mythological proportions in the annals of music history. The audience gave Beethoven no fewer than five standing ovations, tossing their hats and handkerchiefs into the air for the man who had seized his fate “by the throat” and emerged victorious.

Listeners unfamiliar with this radiant gesture toward the sublime are better served by the experience itself rather than any words which might attempt to describe it. The foreboding cataclysm of the first movement, the incisive, biting aggression and unrestrained revelry of the scherzo, the languorous lines of the adagio, and the miracle of the finale, with its opulently varied declarations of our shared humanity and of joy, at its purest and unfettered by our petty imperfections: these meditations on the divine, given expression by a man who lived deeply every detail of his life, speak for themselves.

DVORÁK’S SEVENTH SYMPHONY

Friday, October 10, 2025 at 11:15 am

Saturday, October 11, 2025 at 7:30 pm

ALLEN-BRADLEY HALL

Eric Jacobsen, conductor

Robyn Black, tuba

PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY

Serenade for Strings in C major, Opus 48, TH 48, ČW 45

I. Pezzo in forma di sonatina: Andante non troppo –Allegro moderato

II. Valse: Moderato – Tempo di valse

III. Élégie: Larghetto elegiaco

IV. Finale (Tema russo): Andante – Allegro con spirito

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

Tuba Concerto in F minor

I. Prelude: Allegro moderato

II. Romanza: Andante sostenuto

III. Finale – Rondo alla tedesca: Allegro

Robyn Black, tuba INTERMISSION

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK

Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Opus 70, B. 141

I. Allegro maestoso

II. Poco adagio

III. Scherzo: Vivace – Poco meno mosso

IV. Finale: Allegro

The 2025.26 Classics Series is presented by the UNITED PERFORMING ARTS FUND and ROCKWELL AUTOMATION

The length of this concert is approximately 1 hour and 50 minutes.

Guest Artist Biographies

ERIC JACOBSEN

Already well-established as one of classical music’s most exciting and innovative young conductors, Eric Jacobsen combines fresh interpretations of the traditional canon with cutting-edge collaborations across musical genres. Hailed by The New York Times as “an interpretive dynamo,” Jacobsen, as both a conductor and a cellist, has built a reputation for engaging audiences with innovative and collaborative programming.

Jacobsen is music director at both the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, where he continues to pioneer programming and community engagement in new and exciting directions. Jacobsen was also recently named the principal guest conductor of the Classical Tahoe Music Festival.

Jacobsen is also artistic director and co-founder of The Knights, the uniquely adventurous New York City-based chamber orchestra. The ensemble, founded with his brother violinist Colin Jacobsen, grew out of late-night music reading parties with friends, good food and drink, and conversation. Current endeavors include a residency at Carnegie Hall and an extensive recording collection, including albums with longtime collaborators Yo-Yo Ma, Gil Shaham, Aaron Diehl, Gabriel Kahane, and Anna Clyne.

A frequent guest conductor, Jacobsen has established continuing relationships with the Colorado Symphony, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and the Dresdner Musikfestspiele. Recent and upcoming engagements also include concerts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Grant Park Music Festival, Utah Symphony, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

Jacobsen brings joy, storytelling, and a touch of humor to what he describes as “musical conversations” that delight audiences around the world, including those who do not traditionally attend classical music concerts.

ROBYN BLACK

Robyn is one of the newest members of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s brass section. As a soloist, she has placed first in various solo competitions, including the 2018 Leonard Falcone International Tuba Student Solo competition, 2018 Marine Band concerto competition, and 2019 ITEC (International Tuba and Euphonium Conference) competition. Robyn pursued her undergraduate studies at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. Her teachers include Dave Kirk, Mike Roylance, and Scott Tegge.

Program notes by David Jensen

PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY

Born 7 May 1840; Votkinsk, Russia

Died 6 November 1893; Saint Petersburg, Russia

Serenade for Strings in C major, Opus 48, TH 48, ČW 45

Composed: 21 September – 26 October 1880

First performance: 30 October 1881; Eduard Nápravník, conductor; Russian Musical Society

Last MSO performance: 14 January 2012; Evan Rogister, conductor

Instrumentation: strings

Approximate duration: 28 minutes

By his middle age, things had finally begun to turn around for Tchaikovsky, and for a brief few years in a life he felt was otherwise interminably difficult, his artistic efforts flourished. Following the disaster that was his attempt at marriage in the late 1870s, he spent several years travelling Europe and Russia extensively and composing freely. Having procured a steady income from Nadezhda von Meck, the wealthy widow of a railroad magnate, in 1876, he had resigned his post at the Moscow Conservatory and withdrawn from worldly affairs to better give expression to his interior experience. Over the course of the next decade, he would finally enjoy a burgeoning reputation as one of the most authentic voices in Russian classical music.

It is one of the great ironies of time that artists do not live to savor the enormity of their influence on the trajectory of history, but were it not for Tchaikovsky’s own dismal point of view toward life, much of his finest music may never have come into conception. So it was in the autumn of 1880 that he reported an otherwise typical episode of malaise to his patron: “Scarcely had I begun to enjoy a few days’ leisure than an indefinable mood of boredom, even a sense of not being in health, came over me. Today I began to occupy my mind with projects for a new symphony, and immediately I felt well and cheerful. It appears as though I could not spend a couple of days in idleness ... there is no other occupation open to me but composition.” Within a few weeks, the “new symphony” rapidly took shape as the serenade for strings, written “from an inward impulse; it is something I felt deep within myself, and therefore, I dare to think, is not without real merit.”

The opening movement is cast as a sonatina, or “little sonata,” a relic of the Classical period; as a conscious homage to Mozart, one of Tchaikovsky’s favorite composers, its structure is defined by two central themes left untreated in the absence of a typical development section, framed by an introduction and coda built upon a sweeping chordal motif. The ensuing waltz, the briefest of the four movements, underscores Tchaikovsky’s supremacy as a master of dance music, characterized as it is by its charming tunes and lilting phrase structures. The third movement, an elégie marked by an inward character, intimate voicings, and sprawling lyrical lines, forms the emotional peak of the serenade. Following a slow introduction, a rollicking finale sets two Russian folk songs — “On the Green Meadow” and “Under the Green Apple Tree” — in a proper sonata form, replete with a brilliant development section, before the opening material of the first movement returns, now overlaid with the finale’s infectious energy, imparting a sense of immense grandeur in having “arrived” once more at the beginning.

Before its first public performance in the autumn of 1881, the serenade was read in a private concert given by the students and faculty of the Moscow Conservatory on 3 December 1880 as a surprise for Tchaikovsky, who was visiting after an extended absence. “For the moment,” Tchaikovsky wrote to von Meck a few days later, “I regard it as my best work.”

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

Born 12 October 1872; Down Ampney, England

Died 26 August 1958; London, England

Tuba Concerto in F minor

Composed: 1954

First performance: 13 June 1954; John Barbirolli, conductor; Philip Catelinet, tuba; London Symphony Orchestra

Last MSO performance: MSO Premiere

Instrumentation: 2 flutes (2nd doubling on piccolo); oboe; 2 clarinets; bassoon; 2 horns; 2 trumpets; 2 trombones; timpani; percussion (bass drum, cymbals, snare drum, triangle); harp; strings

Approximate duration: 12 minutes

“Ralph Vaughan Williams has written a tuba concerto and wants you to play it at our jubilee concert in June.” This is the telephone call Philip Catelinet remembers receiving only a few years after his appointment as principal tubist for the London Symphony Orchestra. The moment must have felt surreal: to have a premiere from Britain’s most distinguished living composer land in one’s lap is no small prize, but for an instrument largely seen by popular culture as something slapstick, for which no one had ever bothered to write a concerto, it was daunting. Even the press expressed its skepticism in advance of the performance, insinuating that it couldn’t have been more than a flight of fancy worked up by an eccentric artist entering his ninth decade: “He will need all his breath. … Twenty minutes solo work is a tough proposition.”

Vaughan Williams’s career in music had developed only gradually. He spent nearly a decade on his collegiate education, attending both the Royal College of Music in London and Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. He took lessons with the preeminent German composer Max Bruch for several months in 1897 before receiving his doctoral degree from Cambridge a few years later, and by the time he began studying with Maurice Ravel in 1907, he was already collecting English folksong as source material for his work. Though he had been working to refine his stylistic means, it was Ravel who helped Vaughan Williams escape the sway of German Romanticism; coming to rely on a lighter, more spacious approach to orchestration, he began incorporating modal elements and shaping his melodies in the manner of the English folk idiom. In the intervening 30-odd years that then separated him and his tuba concerto, he would teach for 20 years at the Royal College of Music, serve as president of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, lead The Bach Choir of London as their music director, and earn recognition as the leading exponent of English music following the deaths of Elgar, Delius, and Holst.

A product of his mature voice, the tuba concerto turned out to be anything but an act of whimsy. With military pomp, the opening movement explores the instrument’s range and agility, alternating between simple and compound meters with a great deal of rhythmic ingenuity. In contrast, the central romanza breathes freely, a respite from the more technically demanding outer movements — a gently flowing stream of semiquavers in the accompanying strings provides an almost choral canvas as the soloist rhapsodizes above the orchestra’s continuously shifting tonal centers. The finale, lasting only about three minutes, pushes the instrument to its limits: marked “alla tedesca” (“in the German style”), the short three-part form features, according to the composer, a German waltz at its heart, and following a short cadenza, a series of descending triplet figures brings the brief concerto to a rousing conclusion.

The first of its kind, Vaughan William’s tuba concerto enjoyed not only a successful debut, but sustained popularity, finding a permanent place among the instrument’s repertory. But such were Catelinet’s own misgivings that he had even asked his wife not to attend the premiere: “In the past, the tuba has been treated as a rather comic instrument, and I did not know how the public would react. If I had to suffer, I would rather suffer alone.”

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK

Born 8 September 1841; Nelahozeves, Austrian Empire (now the Czech Republic)

Died 1 May 1904; Prague, Czech Republic

Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Opus 70, B. 141

Composed: 13 December 1884 – 17 March 1885

First performance: 22 April 1885; Antonín Dvořák, conductor; Philharmonic Society of London

Last MSO performance: 5 March 2016; Joshua Weilerstein, conductor

Instrumentation: 2 flutes (2nd doubling on piccolo); 2 oboes; 2 clarinets; 2 bassoons; 4 horns; 2 trumpets; 3 trombones; timpani; strings

Approximate duration: 35 minutes

“This main theme occurred to me upon the arrival at the station of the festival train from Pest in 1884.” So reads the handwritten note Dvořák left in the manuscript of his seventh symphony. A habitual trainspotter, the flash of insight was the composer’s intuitive response to what he saw on the platform during his daily walk to the station: hundreds of Hungarian and Czech nationals were traveling to the National Theatre in Prague for a concert staged in support of their nations’ struggle for independence from the Hapsburg dynasty’s Austro-Hungarian empire. The moment must have felt portentous. On the cusp of a hard-won international career, he had begun to recognize his responsibility to posterity — as well as his homeland — as a symphonist of the first rank.

Only a few months earlier, Dvořák had found unqualified favor among the British. A wildly successful staging of his Stabat Mater at the Royal Albert Hall in 1883 had resulted in a series of engagements by the Philharmonic Society of London, which bestowed an honorary membership and commissioned a new symphony from him in June 1884. A recent performance of Brahms’s newly minted third symphony (a colleague whose unflagging support had cleared Dvořák’s path to fame and fortune) stoked the fires of his imagination; writing quickly in a blaze of inspiration, Dvořák described his fervor in a letter to his friend Antonín Rus: “I am occupied at present with my new symphony (for London), and wherever I go, I think of nothing but that this new work must be capable of stirring the world — may God grant that it will!”

Consciously written to make as profound an impression as possible on the international scene, Dvořák’s seventh symphony marks a deliberate departure from the Slavic idiom that had defined his musical voice up until that point. The model here is undeniably Beethovenian, but the miracle of the music is that despite the scale of its drama and its insistently impassioned quality throughout, its craftsmanship remains as formally rigorous and thematically sophisticated as anything conceived by the late master. The British musicologist Donald Tovey identified the seventh as Dvořák’s finest contribution to the genre, placing it “among the greatest and purest examples in this art-form since Beethoven.”

From the opening theme introduced by the lower strings, the music of the first movement — and the symphony as a whole — is unsettled, brooding, and wrought with anxious tension. The bucolic second movement which follows (which Dvořák described in a footnote as “From the sad years,” a possible reference to the deaths of three of his children in infancy during the late 1870s) contained, according to the composer, “not a single superfluous note,” its pastoral character reflecting his preoccupations with “Love, God, and my Fatherland.” The scherzo here infuses an otherwise Classical structure with a wild, roiling vitality, while the finale culminates in a brilliant display of motivic ingenuity, its blazing, gloriously rendered coda sounding a bonechilling conclusion in D major.

Despite the work’s immediate success, publication became a different matter entirely. Dvořák’s German publisher, Fritz Simrock, tested his patience, first insisting that he required a four-handed piano arrangement, then altering the title page’s Czech spelling of Antonín to the Germanized “Anton.” Salting the proverbial wound, Simrock offered a mere 3,000 marks for the work, even going so far as to suggest that Dvořák quit troubling himself with symphonic writing entirely. Despite Simrock’s wheedling, the seventh’s unquestionable victory had convinced Dvořák of his worthiness as an artist; he successfully negotiated his fee and received twice the proposed sum.

MENDELSSOHN’S REFORMATION

Friday, October 17, 2025 at 7:30 pm

Saturday, October 18, 2025 at 7:30 pm

ALLEN-BRADLEY HALL

Ken-David Masur, conductor

Orion Weiss, piano

JOHANNES BRAHMS

Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn, Opus 56a

Chorale St. Antoni: Andante

Variation I: Poco più animato

Variation II: Più vivace

Variation III: Con moto

Variation IV: Andante con moto

Variation V: Vivace

Variation VI: Vivace

Variation VII: Grazioso

Variation VIII: Presto non troppo

Finale: Andante

ERNST VON DOHNÁNYI

Variations on a Nursery Tune, Opus 25

Introduction: Maestoso

Theme: Allegro

Variation I: Poco più mosso

Variation II: Risoluto

Variation III: L’istesso tempo

Variation IV: Molto meno mosso (Allegretto moderato)

Variation V: Più mosso

Variation VI: Ancora più mosso (Allegro)

Variation VII: Walzer (Tempo giusto)

Variation VIII: Alla marcia (Allegro moderato)

Variation IX: Presto

Variation X: Passacaglia (Adagio non troppo)

Variation XI: Choral (Maestoso)

Finale fugato: Allegro vivace

Orion Weiss, piano

INTERMISSION

Continued on page 44

Continued from page 43

FELIX MENDELSSOHN

Symphony No. 5 in D major, Opus 107, MWV N 15, “Reformation”

I. Andante – Allegro con fuoco

II. Allegro vivace

III. Andante

IV. Chorale: Andante con moto – Allegro vivace

The MSO Steinway was made possible through a generous gift from MICHAEL AND JEANNE SCHMITZ. The 2025.26 Classics Series is presented by the UNITED PERFORMING ARTS FUND and ROCKWELL AUTOMATION.

The length of this concert is approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Guest Artist Biographies

ORION WEISS

One of the most sought-after soloists and chamber music collaborators today, Orion Weiss is a “brilliant pianist” (The New York Times) with “powerful technique and exceptional insight” (The Washington Post). He has dazzled audiences worldwide with his “head-spinning range of colors” (Chicago Tribune) and has performed with all of the major orchestras of North America and at all of the major venues and music festivals.

In February 2025, Weiss released Arc III, the final album in his recital trilogy on First Hand Records. Recent performances include cycles of Beethoven’s complete violin sonatas with violinist James Ehnes; a return to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, led by Michael Tilson Thomas; his debut with the National Symphony Orchestra, led by Ken-David Masur; and performances in Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong, and Seattle. Additional highlights include Weiss’s David Geffen Hall debut in New York with the American Symphony Orchestra, performances of Bach’s “Goldberg” variations at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and Newport Classical, performances in Italy, London, and Norway, and a tour with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. His recording with Augustin Hadelich won Opus Klassik’s Chamber Music Recording of the Year in 2025.

Known for his affinity for chamber music, Weiss performs at venues and festivals around the United States with artists such as violinists James Ehnes, Augustin Hadelich, and William Hagen, pianists Michael Stephen Brown and Shai Wosner, and many string quartets, including the Ariel, Parker, and Pacifica quartets.

A native of Ohio, Weiss attended the Cleveland Institute of Music and made his Cleveland Orchestra debut performing Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in 1999. That same year, with less than 24 hours’ notice, Weiss stepped in to replace André Watts for a performance of Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Weiss’s awards include the Classical Recording Foundation’s Young Artist of the Year, the Gilmore Young Artist Award, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and more. His teachers include Paul Schenly, Jerome Lowenthal, and Sergei Babayan. In 2004, he graduated from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Emanuel Ax. www.orionweiss.com

Program notes by David Jensen

JOHANNES BRAHMS

Born 7 May 1833; Hamburg, Germany

Died 3 April 1897; Vienna, Austria

Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn, Opus 56a

Composed: Summer 1873

First performance: 2 November 1873; Johannes Brahms, conductor; Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Last MSO performance: 10 April 2022; Edo de Waart, conductor

Instrumentation: piccolo; 2 flutes; 2 oboes; 2 clarinets; 2 bassoons; contrabassoon; 4 horns; 2 trumpets; timpani; percussion (triangle); strings

Approximate duration: 19 minutes

In 1870, Karl Ferdinand Pohl, the librarian of the Vienna Philharmonic Society, shared a rare treat with his friend Johannes Brahms. In the thick of preparing his biography of Joseph Haydn, Pohl had come into possession of a set of six Feldpartiten (or “field suites”) for wind ensemble by the Viennese master; Brahms, who took an interest in antique manuscripts, was fascinated, but he was particularly taken by an unusual detail. The second movement of the partita in B-flat major bore the title “Chorale St. Antoni,” and its main theme was a ten-bar chorale tune divided into two five-bar phrases — a rather unorthodox metric framework for the 18th century. Taking the attribution at face value (and being a congenital classicist himself), Brahms copied down the theme, although it wasn’t until three years later that he reworked the melody into a set of variations for piano duo during a summer retreat to Tutzing, a lakeside resort town in southern Germany.

The premiere of his orchestral setting of the variations that autumn by Brahms and the Vienna Philharmonic was an immediate success, and the so-called “Haydn Variations” have since remained ensconced as one of the finest examples of the symphonic variation form to be found in the orchestral repertoire. The intrigue for audiences today, however, is that we now know what Brahms and Pohl did not: musicologists have since roundly declared that the attribution on the manuscript Brahms copied is entirely spurious. Publishers in the 19th century regularly fabricated the authorship of a given work in the hopes that the proximity to celebrity might make for a better sale, and while it’s possible that the music was penned by one of Haydn’s pupils, research remains inconclusive. The work has been presented to audiences as the “Saint Anthony Variations” with greater frequency in recent years, though it’s entirely possible that Haydn’s own artistic immortality might preclude that title from enduring in perpetuity.

The truth of which author actually deserves such a brilliant homage will likely remain lost to history, but the upshot is that this remains some of Brahms’s most elegant and intellectually fastidious music. Each of the eight variations (none of which lasts for more than a few minutes) is its own self-contained point of view defined by its own colors, character, and aesthetic, though the set as a whole continually underscores Brahms’s remarkable facility for counterpoint, gesturing repeatedly as he does to the music of the past. The finale is, in fact, a passacaglia, a Baroque form codified as a set of variations played over an ostinato (or repeating) bassline — which, in this case, is the same five-measure harmonic pattern derived from the original theme. That theme returns once more at the very end, now garlanded by ornamental scales in the winds, in what is perhaps one of the happiest moments in all of Brahms’s oeuvre.

ERNST VON DOHNÁNYI

Born 27 July 1877; Pozsony, Kingdom of Hungary (now Bratislava, Slovak Republic)

Died 9 February 1960; New York City, New York

Variations on a Nursery Tune, Opus 25

Composed: 1914

First performance: 17 February 1914; Carl Panzer, conductor; Ernst von Dohnányi, piano; Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Last MSO performance: MSO Premiere

Instrumentation: piccolo; 2 flutes; 2 oboes; 2 clarinets; 2 bassoons; contrabassoon; 4 horns; 3 trumpets; 3 trombones; tuba; 2 timpani; percussion (bass drum, chimes, cymbals, glockenspiel, triangle, xylophone); harp; celeste; strings

Approximate duration: 25 minutes

Despite never achieving the same degree of notoriety as Franz Liszt, Béla Bartók, or Zoltán Kodály, Ernst von Dohnányi stands among the greatest talents of his native Hungary as both a pianist and composer. Following adolescent music lessons with his father, an amateur cellist, and Carl Forstner, an organist at his local parish, Dohnanyi enrolled at the Royal National Hungarian Academy of Music at the age of 17, where he studied piano with István Thomán, a favorite pupil of Franz Liszt, and composition with Hans von Koessler, whose admiration of Johannes Brahms would ultimately influence his own mature musical style. Before the 19th century was over, he was touring Europe and the United States, and by the age of 30, he had secured a teaching position at the Hochschule in Berlin, where he would compose one of the strangest — and most persistently popular — works of his entire career.

In one of the most inventive examples of musical parody to be found in the 20th century, Dohnányi’s variations take as their basis the French children’s song “Ah! vous dirai-je, maman” — better known to contemporary audiences as “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” Such was the melody’s popularity following its publication in the mid-18th century that it received attention from a variety of composers, ranging from Joseph Haydn to Franz Liszt; Mozart himself published a charming set of 12 variations on the tune, while Camille Saint-Saëns included a rendition in his caricatures of the musical “Fossils” quoted in The Carnival of the Animals. But of all its appearances in concert music, both serious and sarcastic, throughout the last 250 years, Dohnányi’s masterful treatment here is the most extensive and elaborate, offering a vehicle for virtuoso showmanship par excellence.

A sweeping orchestral introduction immediately subverts the audience’s expectations, as though implying a concertante work cast in the dramatic mold typical of a late Romantic piano concerto. Somewhat satirically, the pianist enters with a simple statement of the instantly recognizable theme in quarter notes, as if plucking out the tune at the keyboard as a child might. Over the course of 11 variations, Dohnányi offers a tongue-in-cheek survey of the wideranging stylistic developments found in Western music over the course of the past two centuries, reworking the musical vernacular his audiences would surely have been familiar with a decidedly Lisztian technical approach.

The variations’ aesthetics range from the Classical to the Impressionistic, including everything from a Viennese waltz in the seventh variation, a Brahmsian passacaglia in the tenth, and a nod to the whole-tone harmonies pervading French music in the “Choral,” concluding with a thrilling fugato that fuses the contrapuntal processes of the past to the modern musical language of the present. In view of its liberal treatment of an otherwise quotidian tune, projected through the idioms of music history’s greatest craftsmen, it’s little wonder that Dohnányi subtitled the final draft “for the enjoyment of friends of humor, to the annoyance of others.”

FELIX MENDELSSOHN

Born 3 February 1809; Hamburg, Germany

Died 4 November 1847; Leipzig, Germany

Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Opus 107, MWV N 15, “Reformation”

Composed: December 1829 – 13 May 1830

First performance: 15 November 1832; Felix Mendelssohn, conductor; Berliner Singakademie

Last MSO performance: 29 November 2008; Nicholas McGegan, conductor

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

Approximate duration: 27 minutes

The product of a slow and complicated gestation, the “Reformation” symphony suffered unfairly from the circumstances of Mendelssohn’s life and struggled for decades to find its place in the orchestral repertory. While touring Scotland in the summer of 1829, Mendelssohn enjoyed an especially fruitful period of creativity, and while already sketching what would later become his “Scottish” symphony and the Hebrides overture, he began conceiving of a new work as a means of burnishing his reputation as a virtuoso composer. He knew that June 1830 marked the 300th anniversary of Martin Luther’s submission of the Augsburg Confession, a landmark document of the Protestant Reformation, to Emperor Charles V, and being the enterprising young man that he was, Mendelssohn began drafting the work at just 20 years old with the view of having it premiered in Berlin as part of the celebrations honoring the Reformation’s tercentennial.

Despite having planned to finish the work several months in advance of the festivities, Mendelssohn contracted measles from his sister Rebecka, delaying its completion and rendering the anticipated debut impossible. By the spring, the symphony had more or less reached its final form, but already renowned as a prodigious pianist and composer, Mendelssohn’s energies were immediately diverted by his European tours, precluding the possibility of finding an orchestra to premiere his new symphony. On the other hand, it wasn’t for a lack of trying: as Mendelssohn traveled, the “Reformation” was rejected for performance in Leipzig, Munich, and finally Paris, where François Habeneck’s orchestra deemed it “too learned.”

Arriving in Berlin in the summer of 1832, he revised the work, which finally received its premiere at Berlin’s Singakademie, where his family had been a regular fixture since his childhood. Only a few years later, the composer came to regard the work as “a piece of juvenilia,” even going as far as to suggest that it should be burned. Mendelssohn forbade the work’s publication, and it was not performed again until 1868, the same year that it finally received a printing by the N. Simrock publishing house in Bonn. Although it was only the second of his formal symphonic efforts, more than twenty years had lapsed since the Mendelssohn’s death, and being the last of his symphonies to be published, it was designated his fifth.

The “Reformation” is an attractive example of Mendelssohn’s mastery of the symphonic structure and thematic manipulation. In an era where programmatic music was enjoying its day in the sun for composers eager to impose extramusical narratives upon their work, Mendelssohn’s fifth symphony makes numerous allusions to the Protestant faith, most notably in the inclusion of the “Dresden Amen,” a rising scalar motif sung during church services in the 19th century, in the first, third, and fourth movements. The finale itself is a deeply expressive setting of Martin Luther’s chorale “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” implying the triumph of Western Christianity’s most tumultuous spiritual transformation.

VISIONARIES

Commitments of $1,000,000 and above

Two Anonymous Donors

Jane Bradley Pettit

Charles and Marie Caestecker

Concertmaster Chair

Ellen and Joe Checota

The Cudahy Foundation

Franklyn Esenberg

Herzfeld Foundation

Krause Family Principal Horn Chair

Dr. Keith Austin Larson

Principal Organ Chair

Laskin Family Foundation

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

One Anonymous Donor

Donald B. Abert Principal Bass Chair

Mr. Richard Blomquist

Patrice L. (Patti) Bringe

Margaret and Roy Butter

Principal Flute Chair

Bobbi and Jim Caraway

Donald and Judy Christl

Fred Fuller Trumpet Chair

Douglas M. Hagerman

Mrs. Alyce Coyne Katayma

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

Dr. Carol Pohl

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

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

Mr. Peter L. Mahler

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

Lois and Richard Pauls

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

Sara and Jay Schwister

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

Haruki Toyama

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.

Nine 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 J. Dorr

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

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

Jayne J. Jordan

Judy and Gary Jorgensen

Debra Jupka

James A. and Robin S. Kasch

Howard Kaspin

Musical Legacy Society/Annual Fund

James H. Keyes

Judith A. Keyes

Richard and Sarah Kimball

Mary Krall

JoAnne and Donald Krause

Martin J. and Alice Krebs

Ronald and Vicki Krizek

Cynthia Krueger-Prost

Alice Kuramoto

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

Mr. Peter L. Mahler

Dr. John and Kristie Malone

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

Mark and Donna Metzendorf

Mrs. Christel U. Mildenberg

Christian and Kate Mitchell

Joan Moeller

Ms. Melodi Muehlbauer

Robert Mulcahy

Kathleen M. Murphy

William and Marian Nasgovitz

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

Dr. Carol Pohl

Julie Quinlan Brame and Jason Brame

Ms. Harvian Raasch-Hooten

Christine Radiske and Herbert Quigley

Steve and Susan Ragatz

Catherine A. Regner

Steve and Fran Richman

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

Janet Wilgus

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 to this treasure. We gratefully acknowledge the contributions to the Annual Fund as of August 12, 2025.

CONDUCTOR CIRCLE

$100,000 and above

Ellen and Joe Checota

Mrs. George C. Kaiser

Donald and JoAnne Krause

Marty Krebs

Sheldon and Marianne Lubar Charitable Fund of the Lubar Family Foundation

Michael Schmitz

Julia and David Uihlein

$50,000 and above

Laura and Mike Arnow

Anthony and Vicki Cecalupo

Mr. and Mrs. Donald S. Wilson

$25,000 and above

One Anonymous Donor

Bobbi and Jim Caraway

Mr. and Mrs. Franklyn Esenberg

Mrs. Susan G. Gebhardt

Doug Hagerman

Robert and Gail Korb

Dr. Brent and Susan Martin

Nancy and Greg Smith

Drs. George and Christine Sosnovsky Charitable Trust

Drs. Robert Taylor and Janice McFarland Taylor

Thora Vervoren

James and Sue Wiechmann

$15,000 and above

Three Anonymous Donors

Richard Bradley

Marilyn and John Breidster

Elaine Burke

Mary and James Connelly

Dr. Deborah and Jeff Costakos

Mrs. Alyce Coyne Katayama

The Paul & Connie Flagg Family Charitable Fund

George E. Forish, Jr.

Kim and Nancy Graff

Drs. Carla and Robert Hay

Jewish Community Foundation

Eileen and Howard Dubner Donor Advised Fund

Judy and Gary Jorgensen

Charles and Barbara Lund

Maureen McCabe

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

Lois and Richard Pauls

Pat Rieselbach

Sara and Jay Schwister

John and Judith Simonitsch

Allison M. and Dale R. Smith

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas R. Tiffany

Haruki Toyama

Alice Weiss

Herbert Zien and Elizabeth Levins

$10,000 and above

Two Anonymous Donors

Dr. Rita Bakalars

Robert Balderson

William and Barbara Boles

Mrs. William T. Dicus

Joanne Doehler

Jack Douthitt and Michelle Zimmer

Bruce T. Faure M.D.

Mary Lou M. Findley

Elizabeth and William Genne

Judith J. Goetz

Stephanie and Steve Hancock

Katherine Hauser

Mr. and Mrs. Eric E. Hobbs

Dr. and Mrs. Samuel Hoke

Christine Krueger

Charmaine and James LaBelle

Geraldine Lash

Mr. Peter L. Mahler

Mark and Donna Metzendorf

Dr. Mary Ellen Mitchanis

Bob and Barbara Monnat

Patrick and Mary Murphy

Andy Nunemaker

Julie Peay

Leslie and Aaron Plamann

Lynn and Craig Schmutzer

Tracy S. Wang, MD

Evonne Winston

Diana J. Wood

PRINCIPAL CIRCLE

$5,000 and above

Three Anonymous Donors

Fred and Kay Austermann

Thomas Bagwell and Michelle Hiebert

Natalie Beckwith

Lois Bernard

Richard and Kay Bibler

Dr. Sherry H. Blumberg

Mary and Terry Briscoe

Roger Byhardt

Ms. Trish Calvy

Ara and Valerie Cherchian

Donald and Judy Christl

Sandra and Russell Dagon

Paul Dekker

Karen Dobbs and Chris DeNardis

Jacquelyn and Dalibor Drummer

Beth and Ted Durant

Dr. Eric Durant and Scott Swickard

Dr. and Mrs. Harry A. Easom

Dr. Donald Feinsilver and JoAnn Corrao

Stan and Janet Fox

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

James and Karen Hyde

Lee and Barbara Jacobi

Leon Janssen

Jayne J. Jordan

Lynn and Tom Kassouf

Judith A. Keyes

Benedict and Lee Kordus

Mary E. Lacy

Peter and Kathleen Lillegren

Gerald and Elaine Mainman

Sara and Nathan Manning

John and Linda Mellowes

Judith Fitzgerald Miller

Rusti and Steve Moffic

Barbara and Layton Olsen

Brian and Maura Packham

Elaine Pagedas

Ellen Rohwer Pappas and Timothy Pappas

Sharon L. Petrie

Dr. and Mrs. Richard A. Pierce-Ruhland

Jim and Fran Proulx

Christine Radiske and Herbert Quigley

Jerome Randall and Mary Hauser

Dr. Donna Recht and Dr. Robert Newby

Steve and Fran Richman

Pat and David Rierson

Roger Ritzow

Mary Roberts

Gayle G. Rosemann and Paul E. McElwee

Patricia and Ronald Santilli

Mr. Thomas P. Schweda

Lynne Shaner

Joan Spector

Carlton Stansbury

Bob and Betty Streng

Jim Strey

Kathleen Thometz

Mrs. James Urdan

Mr. and Mrs. Francis Wasielewski

Nora and Jude Werra

Janet Wilgus

Jessica R. Wirth

Mr. Wilfred Wollner

$3,500 and above

One Anonymous donor

Marlene and Bert Bilsky

David and Diane Buck

Daniel and Allison Byrne

Chris and Katie Callen

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas F. Christie

Kurt and Rosemary Glaisner

Ginny Hall

Margarete and David Harvey

Drs. Margie Boyles and Stephen Hinkle

Barbara Hunt

David and Mel Johnson

Megumi Kanda Hemann and Dietrich Hemann

Stanley Kritzik

Norm and Judy Lasca

Tom Lindow

Lynn Marzinski

Ann Rosenthal and Benson Massey

Dottie Rotter

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

Pamela Stampen

James and Catherine Startt

Mr. Stephen Thompson

Mark Valkenburgh

Corinthia Van Orsdol and Donald Petersen

Jim Ward

Jim and Sandy Wrangell

Carol and Richard Wythes

Sandra Zingler

Leo Zoeller

ORCHESTRA CIRCLE

$2,000 and above

Two Anonymous Donors

Drs. Helmut and Sandra Ammon

Dr. Joan Arvedson

Mark and Laura Barnard

Bruce and Maggie Barr

Priscilla and Anthony Beadell

Jacqlynn Behnke

Elliot and Karen Berman

Lawrence Bialcik

Roger J. Bialcik

Ms. Elizabeth Billings

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

Michael and Marianna Bruch

Mike and Ericka Burzynski

Leigh Barker-Cheesebro

Mr. and Mrs. Stephen L. Chernof

Lynda and Tom Curl

Larry and Eileen Dean

Ms. Nancy A. Desjardins

Chris Dillie

Art and Rhonda Downey

Barbara and Harry L. Drake

Steven and Buffy Duback

Sigrid Dynek and Barry Axelrood

Signe and Gerald Emmerich, Jr.

Shirley Erwin

Joseph and Joan Fall

Kristin Fewel

Mr. and Mrs. A. William Finke

Jo Ann and Dale Frederickson

Timothy Gerend

Barbara Gill

Dale and Sara Harmelink

Millicent Hawley

Robert Hey

Howard and Susan Hopwood

Robert S. Jakubiak

Ms. Lynda Johnson

Maja Jurisic and Don Fraker

Matthew and Kathryn Kamm

Dr. Bruce and Anna Kaufman

Mr. Rick Kirby

Mr. and Mrs. F. Michael Kluiber

Julilly W. Kohler

Maritza and Mario Laguna

Mr. and Mrs. Ian Lambert

Drs. Kaye and Prakash Laud

Micaela Levine and Thomas St. John

Mr. and Mrs. Mark Levy

Bruce and Elizabeth Loder

Kathleen Lovelace

Dr. and Mrs. Debesh Mazumdar

Guy and Mary Jo McDonald

Mrs. Debra L. Metz

Mr. and Mrs. George Meyer

Steve and Ellie Miller

Gregory and Susan Milleville

Mark and Carol Mitchell

Melodi Muehlbauer

Ms. Mary Ann Mueller

Laurie Ocepek

Susan M. Otto

Dr. and Mrs. James T. Paloucek

Jamshed and Deborah Patel

Raymond and Janice Perry

Gerald T. and Carol K. Petersen

David J. Peterson

Kathryn Koenen Potos

Catherine Quirk

Drs. Walter and Lisa Rich

Dr. Marcia J.S. Richards

Susan Riedel

Mrs. David Y. Rosenzweig

Mr. Thomas Schneider

Ralph and Cheryl Schregardus

Rev. Doug and Marilyn Schoen

Dr. and Mrs. Kevin R. Siebenlist

Paul Seifert

Margles Singleton

Mrs. George R. Slater

Dr. and Mrs. C. John Snyder

Leonard Sobczak

Annual Fund/Corporate & Foundation

Loretto and Dick Steinmetz

Jeff and Jody Steren

Richard and Linda Stevens

Ian and Ellen Szczygielski

David Taggart and Terry Burko

John and Anne Thomas

Joan Thompson

Joy Towell

Mike Uihlein

Linda and Lynn Unkefer

James Van Ess

Mark Van Hecke

Nancy Vrabec and Alastair Boake

Michael Walton

Ann and Joseph Wenzler

Prati and Norm Wojtal

Lee and Carol Wolcott

Mr. Kevin R. Woller

William and Denise Zeidler

Mrs. Sharon S. Ziegler

$1,000 and above

Three Anonymous Donors

Donald and Jantina Adriano

Ruth Agrusa

Mr. and Mrs. James B. Anello

Sue and Louie Andrew

Betty Arndt

Dr. and Mrs. Robert Ashmore

Richard and Sara Aster

Danielle Baerwald

Paul E. Barkhaus, MD

Steve and Mary Barney

James and Nora Barry

Paul and Paula Bartel

Mr. James M. Baumgartner

Jack Beatty

Christine Beck

Dianne and David Benner

Richard Bergman

Mrs. Kristine Best

Karen and Geoffrey Bilda

Robert Borch and Linda Wickstrom

Mr. and Mrs. Darold Borree

Art and Jacinda Bouton

Dan and Peg Bresnahan

James Brown and Ann Brophy

Michael and Marianna Bruch

Karen and Harry Carlson

Ms. Carol A. Carpenter

John Chain

Edith Christian

Margaret Crosby

William Curry

Ms. Kristine Demski

Thomas C. Dill

Mary Paula Dix

Donald, Kathleen and Amy Domagalski

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Dougherty

Gloria and Peter Drenzek

Dr. and Mrs. Peter Drescher

Mary Ann Dude

Thomas Durkin and Joan Robotham

Jill and George Fahr

Helen Forster

Jane K. Gertler

Pearl Mary Goetsch

Ralph and Cherie Gorenstein

Sarah Gramentine

Greater Milwaukee Foundation

Dresselhuys Family Fund

Leesley B. and Joan J. Hardy

Jay Kay Foundation Fund

Mr. and Mrs. James Grigg

Sharon and Michael Grinker

Douglas and Margaret Ann Haag

Lawrence and Tsui-Ching Hammond

Leila and Joe Hanson

Jean and John Henderson

Elizabeth and Herodotos Ellinas

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

Barbara Hunteman

Suzanne and Michael Hupy

Myra Huth

Faith L. Johnson

Karen and Dean Johnson

Mr. Stephen Kaniewski

Rose and Dale Kaser

Allan Kasprzak and Trudi Schmitt

Dr. Jack and Myrna Kaufman

Patrick and Jane Keily

Brian and Mary Lou Kennedy

Sarajane and Robert Kennedy

Joseph W. Kmoch

Mr. and Mrs. David Leevan

John and Janice Liebenstein

Matt and Patty Linn

Neill and Fran Luebke

Stephen and Jane Lukowicz

Ms. Joan Maas

Ann MacIver

Dr. John and Kristie Malone

Mr. Peter Mamerow

Jeanne and David Mantsch

Mr. Jonathan March

Dr. and Mrs. Francisco Martinez

Dr. Daniel and Constance McCarty

Mr. Brian and Lesli McLinden

Mr. and Mrs. Dean Mehlberg

Dr. David Miyama

Karen Moore

Christine Mortensen

William and Laverne Mueller

Richard and Isabel Muirhead

David and Gail Nelson

Joseph Pabst and John Schellinger

Douglas E. Peterson

Donald A. Pollack and Adrienne Pollack-Sender

William and Cynthia Prost

John and Susan Pustejovsky

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Quadracci

Dr. Francis J. Randall

Lysbeth and James Reiskytl

Dan and Anna Robbins

Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Robbins

Emily and Mike Robertson

Roger B. Ruggeri and Andrea K. Wagoner

Drs. Larry and Polly Ryan

Ms. LindaGale Sampson

Keri Sarajian and Rick Stratton

Wilbert and Genevieve Schauer Foundation

Lawrence and Katherine Schnuck

Elaine and Martin Schreiber

Phil Schumacher and Pauline Beck

Mr. and Mrs. Mark W. Schwallie

Bob and Sally Schwarz

Ronald and Judith Shapiro

Mr. Reeves E. Smith

Ken and Dee Stein

Mr. and Mrs. Roland E. Strampe

Sally Swetnam

Tim and Bonnie Tesch

Kent and Marna Tess-Mattner

Winifred Thrall

Mr. and Mrs. James S. Tidey

Joan and David Totten

Katherine Troy

Roy and Sandra Uelner

Ms. Beth L. Weckmueller

Henry J. Wellner and James Cook

Mr. and Mrs. Jerome T. Welz

Ann and Joe Wenzler

David Wesley

Lynn and Richard Wesolek

Deborah and Gerald Wetter

A. James White

Robert and Lana Wiese

Linda and Dan Wilhelms

Michael and Mary Williams

Rolland and Sharon Wilson

Ron and Alice Winkler

Mrs. Melinda D. Wolf

Daryl and Bonnie Wunrow

Dr. Donald and Marian Yoder

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 to 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

Greater Milwaukee Foundation

Dr. John H. and Sara Sue Esser Fund Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Fund

Herzfeld Foundation

Rockwell Automation

We Energies Foundation

Corporate & Foundation/Matching Gifts/Marquee Circle/Tributes

$50,000 and above

Bader Philanthropies, Inc.

Chase Family Foundation

Greater Milwaukee Foundation

Norman and Lucy Cohn Family Fund

Helen and Jeanette Oberndorfer 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

National Endowment for the Arts

R.D. and Linda Peters Foundation

Schoenleber Foundation, Inc.

Wintrust Financial Corporation

Wisconsin Arts Board

$15,000 and above

A.O. Smith Foundation, Inc.

ATC

Bert L. & Patricia S. Steigleder

Charitable Trust

Galaxy Foundation

Greater Milwaukee Foundation

David C. Scott Foundation

Krause Family Foundation

U.S. Bank

$10,000 and above

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

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

Frieda and William Hunt Memorial

Gene and Ruth Posner Foundation, Inc.

Greater Milwaukee Foundation

Margaret E. Sheehan Memorial Fund

Hamparian Family Foundation

Harbeck Family Foundation

Herb Kohl Philanthropies

Julian Family Foundation

Milwaukee Arts Board

Milwaukee County Arts Fund (CAMPAC )

Richard G. Jacobus Family Foundation

Stackner Family Foundation, Inc.

Versiti Blood Research Center

$2,500 and above

Camille A. Lonstorf Trust

Dean Family Foundation

Dorothy Inbusch Foundation, Inc.

Enterprise Holdings

Gardner Foundation

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

PKSD Law

Theodore W. Batterman Family Foundation

$1,000 and above

Albert J. & Flora H. Ellinger Foundation

Anthony Petullo Foundation, Inc.

Clare M. Peters Charitable Trust

Curt and Sue Culver Family Foundation

Delta Dental of Wisconsin

DeWitt LLP

Educators Credit Union

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

Gruber Law Offices LLC

Hupy and Abraham S.C.

Michael Koss/Koss Foundation

Loyal D. Grinker

SixSibs Foundation

Townsend Foundation

Usinger Foundation

$500 and above

Barney Family Foundation

Greater Milwaukee Foundation

de Hartog Family Fund

Robert C. Archer Designated Fund

Roxy and Bud Heyse Fund/Journal Fund

Wisconsin Women’s Health Foundation

MATCHING GIFTS

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

Abbvie

ATC

Aurora Health Care

Benevity Community Impact Fund

BMO Harris Bank

Caterpillar Foundation

CyberGrants, LLC

Dominion Foundation

Eaton Corporation

GE Foundation

Google Inc.

Johnson Controls Foundation

Kohl’s Corp.

Microsoft Corp.

National Philanthropic Trust

Northwestern Mutual

Paypal Giving Fund

Renaissance Charitable Foundation

Rockwell Automation

SherwinWilliams

Stifel

Sun Life

Thrivent Financial

U.S. Charitable Gift Trust

United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County

Wintrust Financial Corporation

Wisconsin Energy Corporation

GOLDEN NOTE PARTNERS

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

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

Foley & Lardner LLP

GO Riteway Transportation Group

Hilton Milwaukee

Kohler Co.

Peter Mahler

Susan and Brent Martin

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 2025.26 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 memory of Italo Babini

Terry Burko and David Taggart

In memory of Clair Baum

Julie and Gary Anderson

Richard and Sara Aster

Tributes

Barbara and Philip Bail, Jr.

Stacy Wilson-Baum

Richard Bergman

Richard and Kay Bibler

Jane Lee and William Buege

Barbara and Allen Cairns

Joan Callan

Sinikka and Gilbert Church

Joyce Cupertino

Ryan Daniel

Barbara Dobbs

Marcia Dollerschell

Carol Dolphin

Patricia and Daniel Fetterley

Louise and David Gartzke

Judith Goetz

Alison Graf and Richard Schreiner

Tonya Hennen

Joseph and Louise Hoffman

Jayne J. Jordan

Alice Kuramoto

Gerald and Joan Luettgen

Harold and Goldie Markey

Patricia Morrison

Roxy Mortvedt and Charles Lewis

J.C. Oehlschlager

Richard and Suzanne Pieper

Frederick and Patricia Rudie

Carol Ryan

Richard Schmidt

Mary Ann Schwartz

Dr. and Mrs. C. John Snyder

Judith Tarabek

Dean and Katherine Thome

Jack Warden

Kathleen and Thomas Wilson

In memory of John “Steve” Anderson Serigraph Incorporated

In honor of Beth and Mike Giacobassi

Cindy and Tim Friedmann

In memory of Carmen Haberman

Terry Burko and David Taggart

In memory of Roman Kontorovsky

Mr. and Mrs. Michael Hauer

In memory of Elaine Mainman

Ann and Mark Johnson

In memory of Sally Prodoehl

Mr. and Mrs. J.T. Christofferson

Barbara and Daniel Dedrick

Janet Friestad

Diane Lane

Dr. William and Susan LeFeber

Michele Masters

Tracie Zoll

In honor of Hilde Strigenz

Maria Pretzl

In memory of Dr. Thomas Roberts

Mary Roberts

In honor of Dr. Robert Taylor

Elizabeth Taylor

In memory of Judith Margaret Wagner

Steven A. and Lisa L. Wagner

In honor of Harrison, William, & Emmylou

Ms. Colleen Harvey

In honor of Herb Zien and Liz Levins

Jamshed and Deborah Patel

MSO Board of Directors

OFFICERS

Susan Martin, Chair

Gregory Smith, Chair-Elect; Secretary; Chair, Governance Committee

David Uihlein, Honorary Co-Chair

Julia Uihlein, Honorary Co-Chair

Patrick Murphy, Treasurer; Chair, Finance Committee

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

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

Susan Martin, Chair

Gregory Smith, Chair-Elect; Secretary; Chair, Governance Committee

Jennifer Dirks

Douglas M. Hagerman Chair, Chair’s Council

Eric E. Hobbs

Robert Klieger, Chair, Players’ Council

Mark A. Metzendorf, Chair, Advancement Committee

Christian Mitchell

Patrick Murphy, Treasurer; Chair, Finance Committee

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

Michael J. Schmitz

Pam Stampen, Chair, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion (EDI) Task Force

Haruki Toyama, Chair, Music Director Search Committee

ELECTED DIRECTORS

Daniel Byrne

Jeff Costakos

Steve Hancock, Chair, Education Committee

Renee Herzing

Alyce Coyne Katayama

Peter Mahler, Chair, Grand Future Committee

Teresa Mogensen

Robert B. Monnat

Leslie Plamann, Chair, Audit Committee

Craig A. Schmutzer

Jay E. Schwister, Chair, Retirement Plan Committee

Dale R. Smith

Tracy Tavolier

Tom Zale

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

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 2025.26 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

Kelley McCaskill, 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

Leah Peavler, Director of Institutional Advancement

William Loder, Gift Officer

Julie Jahn, Campaign Manager

Megan Martin, Donor Stewardship Manager

Tracy Migon, Development Systems Manager

Andrea Moreno-Islas, Advancement Manager

Abby Vakulskas, Giving Manager, Advancement Communications

EDUCATION & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Rebecca Whitney, Director of Education

Courtney Buvid, ACE & Education Manager

Nathan Hickox-Young, Concerts for Schools & Education Manager

FINANCE

Nicole Magolan, Controller

Jenny Beier, Senior Accountant

Crystal Reed-Hardy, Human Resources Manager

MARKETING

Lizzy Cichowski, Director of Marketing

Erin Kogler, Director of Communications

Adam Cohen, Patron Systems Manager

Katelyn Farebrother, Marketing Coordinator

David Jensen, Publications Manager

Josh Marino, Content and Communications Manager

Zachary-John Reinardy, Lead Designer

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

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

Miles McConnell, Artistic Operations Assistant

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

Anthony Andronczyk, House Manager

Donovan Burton, Facilities Manager - 2nd Shift

Travis Byrd, Facilities Manager

Lisa Klimczak, House Manager

David Kotlewski, House Manager

Steve Pfisterer, House Manager

Zed Waeltz, Event Services Manager

INDULGE CATERING CO.

Marta Bianchini, Chief Executive Officer

Marc Bianchini, Executive Chef

ONE GIFT. REGIONAL IMPACT.

UPAF is the best way to make the biggest impact on the performing arts in Southeastern Wisconsin. With one gift, you directly support 14 Member Groups and numerous A liates bringing the magic of music, dance and theater to life. PLAY YOUR PART AND DONATE TODAY

imagination + technology = possibility

Together, we are expanding human possibility in our communities –helping nurture the next generation of builders, makers and innovators.