The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...
. The orchestra performs primarily at the Bradley Symphony Center in Allen-Bradley Hall. The orchestra also serves as the orchestra for
Florentine Opera
The Florentine Opera Company is one of Wisconsin's oldest professional performing arts centers and the sixth-oldest opera company in the United States. The company presents three to five staged productions per season largely from the standard ope ...
productions.
History
The precursor ensemble to the orchestra was the Milwaukee Pops Orchestra, a part-time ensemble which had been founded 10 years earlier. In 1959, the orchestra formally changed its name to the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, with Harry John Brown as its first music director. During his nine-year tenure, Brown led the orchestra's transition from a semi-professional pops group to a fully professional, full-time symphony orchestra.
During the tenure of Kenneth Schermerhorn, the orchestra's second music director, from 1968 to 1980, the orchestra had begun its 'State Tour' programme of concerts around Wisconsin, to such cities as
Fish Creek,
Fond du Lac,
Marinette,
Ripon
Ripon () is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city ...
,
Rhinelander,
Three Lakes,
West Bend, and
Whitewater
Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...
, Wisconsin, as well as
Naperville, Illinois. The orchestra also initiated its concerts for students, as well as giving its first performance at
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...
. The
Milwaukee Symphony Chorus
The Milwaukee Symphony Chorus is the choral ensemble of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Founded in 1976 by Margaret Hawkins at the request of then-MSO music director Kenneth Schermerhorn, it was originally called the Wisconsin Conservatory Sympho ...
was also established during this time.
Lukas Foss served as the orchestra's third music director, from 1981 to 1986, which saw a notable increase in performances of contemporary music and American compositions, along with the orchestra's first European tour in 1986.
Zdeněk Mácal
Zdeněk Mácal (; born 8 January 1936) is a Czech people, Czech Conducting, conductor.
Mácal was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, and began violin lessons with his father at the age of four. He later attended the Brno Conservatory and the Janáč ...
was the orchestra's fourth music director, from 1986 to 1995. The orchestra began to record for Koss Classics during this period, and established its Arts in Community Education programme in 1990. From 1995 to 1997,
Stanisław Skrowaczewski served as the orchestra's artistic advisor, prior to the advent of
Andreas Delfs
Andreas Delfs (born 30 August 1959) is a German Conductor (music), conductor. He is the music director of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor laureate of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
Biography
Delfs was born in Flensburg, We ...
as the orchestra's fifth music director. Delfs was music director from 1997 to 2009. During his tenure, in 1999, the orchestra performed in
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
, the first American symphony orchestra to do so since the
U.S. embargo against Cuba was implemented in 1962. Delfs became the orchestra's conductor laureate after the conclusion of his tenure in 2009.
Edo de Waart
Edo de Waart (born 1 June 1941, Amsterdam) is a Dutch conductor. He is Music Director Laureate of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. De Waart is the former chief conductor of the Royal Flemish Philharmonic (2011-2016), Artistic Partner with the S ...
was the orchestra's most recent music director, from 2009 to 2017. His appointment was unusual in that de Waart had not conducted the orchestra prior to his appointment. Upon the conclusion of his tenure, the orchestra granted de Waart the title of conductor laureate. The orchestra's current assistant conductor is Yaniv Dinur. Past principal pops conductors have included
Doc Severinsen
Carl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen (born July 7, 1927) is an American retired jazz trumpeter who led the NBC Orchestra on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''.
Early life
Severinsen was born in Arlington, Oregon, to Minnie Mae (1897–1998) a ...
, who holds the title of Principal Pops Conductor Emeritus, and
Marvin Hamlisch
Marvin Frederick Hamlisch (June 2, 1944 – August 6, 2012) was an American composer and conductor. Hamlisch was one of only seventeen people to win Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards. This collection of all four is referred to as an " EGOT ...
.
In December 2017, the orchestra purchased the former Warner Grand Theatre, with the intention to relocate there in 2020.
In May 2018,
Ken-David Masur
Ken-David Masur (born 1977) is a German-born American conductor.
Born in Leipzig of Japanese and German ancestry, Masur is the son of conductor Kurt Masur and Masur's third wife, the soprano Tomoko Sakurai. He began piano studies at age 6. Masur ...
first guest-conducted the orchestra. The orchestra immediately re-engaged him for a subsequent guest-conducting appearance in September 2018. On the basis of these concerts, in November 2018, the orchestra announced the appointment of Masur as its next music director, effective with the 2019-2020 season, with an initial contract of 4 seasons. Masur took the title of music director-designate with immediate effect.
The orchestra has presented more than 100 world and American premieres of works by composers such as
Lukas Foss,
Philip Glass
Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...
,
Geoffrey Gordon,
Daron Hagen,
Roy Harris,
Erich Korngold,
Gian Carlo Menotti
Gian Carlo Menotti (, ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian composer, librettist, director, and playwright who is primarily known for his output of 25 operas. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept h ...
,
Marc Neikrug
Marc Edward Neikrug (born September 24, 1946) is a contemporary American composer, pianist, and conductor. He was born in New York City, the son of cellists George Neikrug and Olga Zundel. He is best known for a Piano Concerto (1966), the theater ...
,
Matthias Pintscher,
Daniel Schnyder
Daniel Schnyder (born March 12, 1961 in Zurich) is a Swiss jazz reedist and composer of both jazz and classical music.
Schnyder learned to play cello before saxophone. He attended Berklee College of Music and the Conservatory of Winterthur. H ...
,
Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest com ...
,
Roberto Sierra,
Gunther Schuller,
William Schuman,
Ottorino Respighi
Ottorino Respighi ( , , ; 9 July 187918 April 1936) was an Italian composer, violinist, teacher, and musicologist and one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. List of compositions by Ottorino Respighi, His compositions r ...
,
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most ...
, and others. Over 22 compositions have been by MSO musicians.
Recordings and broadcasts
The MSO has also released 14 recordings on the
Koss
KOSS (1380 AM, "NewsTalk 1380") is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Lancaster, California and serves the Antelope Valley area. The station is owned by High Desert Broadcasting and broadcasts a news/talk format, featuring programm ...
Classics and
Telarc labels. These include such projects as the complete symphonies of
Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czechs, Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravian traditional music, Moravia and his native Bohemia, following t ...
; an all-
Kodaly disc; an acclaimed recording of
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
's ''
Symphony No. 9'';
Berlioz' ''
Symphonie Fantastique
' (''Fantastical Symphony: Episode in the Life of an Artist … in Five Sections'') Op. 14, is a program symphony written by the French composer Hector Berlioz in 1830. It is an important piece of the early Romantic period. The first performan ...
'';
Prokofiev’s ''
Alexander Nevsky
Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (russian: Александр Ярославич Невский; ; 13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263) served as Prince of Novgorod (1236–40, 1241–56 and 1258–1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1236–52) and Grand P ...
''; and
Smetana's ''
Ma Vlast''. On September 16, 2005, the MSO became the first American orchestra to sell recordings of recent concerts for download on
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
and through the orchestra's web site.
The ''Cuba Concerts'' CD features a live recording made during the MSO's 1999 Cuba Millennium Tour. 1999 also saw the release of an ''a cappella'' CD featuring the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus. In 2002, the MSO released a CD featuring
Prokofiev’s ''
Romeo and Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
'' and
Tchaikovsky’s ''
The Nutcracker
''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaiko ...
''. In 2004, the MSO released the first modern recording in English of
Humperdinck's ''
Hansel und Gretel'', on the
Avie
Avie is a female or male given name. As a nickname, it can be short for Avis, Avery, Avanel, and Ava. People named Avie include:
* Avie Bennett, a Canadian businessman
* Avie Bridges, Dean of the Kinesiology Division at Santa Ana College
* Av ...
label.
The orchestra is also featured on radio broadcasts via the
WFMT
WFMT is an FM broadcasting, FM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, featuring a format of fine arts, classical music programming, and shows exploring such genres as folk music, folk. The station is managed by Window to the World Communications, In ...
Radio Network.
Music directors
* Harry John Brown (1959–1968)
*
Kenneth Schermerhorn (1968–1980)
*
Lukas Foss (1981–1986)
*
Zdeněk Mácal
Zdeněk Mácal (; born 8 January 1936) is a Czech people, Czech Conducting, conductor.
Mácal was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, and began violin lessons with his father at the age of four. He later attended the Brno Conservatory and the Janáč ...
(1986–1995)
*
Andreas Delfs
Andreas Delfs (born 30 August 1959) is a German Conductor (music), conductor. He is the music director of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor laureate of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
Biography
Delfs was born in Flensburg, We ...
(1997–2009)
*
Edo de Waart
Edo de Waart (born 1 June 1941, Amsterdam) is a Dutch conductor. He is Music Director Laureate of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. De Waart is the former chief conductor of the Royal Flemish Philharmonic (2011-2016), Artistic Partner with the S ...
(2009–2017)
*
Ken-David Masur
Ken-David Masur (born 1977) is a German-born American conductor.
Born in Leipzig of Japanese and German ancestry, Masur is the son of conductor Kurt Masur and Masur's third wife, the soprano Tomoko Sakurai. He began piano studies at age 6. Masur ...
(2019-)
See also
*
Lipinski Stradivarius
References
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
American orchestras
Culture of Milwaukee
Musical groups from Wisconsin
Musical groups established in 1959
Wikipedia requested audio of orchestras
Performing arts in Wisconsin
1959 establishments in Wisconsin