Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra

Take It To the Limit: Josh Phillips, French Horn

Published 2017-09-20

Josh Phillips has held the MSO’s fourth horn position for six years — and before that, he spent six years in the Army’s West Point Band. It’s an unusual background for an orchestra musician, but as a new conservatory graduate, “this was a great opportunity to pay off debt,” he said. “I had nothing to lose as far as trying, and it worked out.” After he won the Army audition, he had to go to basic training, like any other new recruit. “It’s just like in the movies — doing everything wrong and getting screamed at all the time,” he said with a laugh. “But you learn to push your limits and what you can do.”

Bernstein Connections

Published 2017-09-05

Niehaus says, “He was one of those people that everyone felt they had a special relationship with him. And that’s possible. It’s kind of like Yo-Yo Ma now – everything revolved around him, but he also made it about everyone else.”

"He loves music as much as or more than anyone I know": Doug Hagerman named Chair of the League of American Orchestras

Published 2017-08-30

Doug Hagerman’s experience leading the Milwaukee Symphony’s board of directors may serve him well in a new and larger role. Hagerman, who stepped down as the MSO’s board chair in 2014, was recently named to take the same role for the League of American Orchestras, the national membership association that offers research, training and advocacy to orchestras of all sizes.

What we did on our summer "vacation"

Published 2017-08-23

From September to June, the Milwaukee Symphony is a tightly knit group of musicians who spend their days and evenings together in well-defined roles. But in the summer, the symphony’s 70 instrumentalists scatter in almost as many different directions, playing in opera, chamber music, or festival orchestras, teaching, or just resting.

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