Articles – Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra

MSO Musician Spotlight: Alex Ayers and Paul Hauer

David Jensen — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 20:55:33 +0000

“It’s so important that the greater Milwaukee community has a local, world-class orchestra,” says Alex Ayers, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra first violinist. Paul Hauer, second violinist and fellow Wisconsin native, agrees. “Every city needs art and music, Milwaukee included,” he says. “I think it’s important for us to have a home team on the world stage. The musicians of the Milwaukee Symphony…

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Milwaukee PBS Brings Local Talent to the Bradley Symphony Center for the Milwaukee Night Market

David Jensen — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 17:28:34 +0000

Editor’s Note: We regret to announce that our planned live concert event with Milwaukee PBS during the July 16 Milwaukee Night Market has been cancelled due to the threat of severe weather. Any further plans will be shared at a later date. The latest collaboration between the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Milwaukee PBS doesn’t even involve a camera. The upcoming Milwaukee Night Market on…

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Edessa School of Fashion Partners with MSO for Thorgy Thor and the Thorchestra

Josh Marino — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 15:04:19 +0000

When Thorgy Thor comes out after her final costume change for her concert with the Milwaukee Symphony, she will be wearing an outfit designed and made in Milwaukee. The drag queen who came to prominence on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” has been presenting concerts with orchestra since 2018, but the costume collaboration is the result of a fortunate local coincidence. The concert is co-sponsored by the…

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MSO Retiree Spotlight: Robert Levine and Beth Giacobassi

David Jensen — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 17:59:02 +0000

Two retiring MSO musicians will take with them a combined 81 years of institutional memory when they play their last concert in June. But bassoonist Beth Giacobassi and principal viola Robert Levine joined the symphony at very different points in their careers. Giacobassi came to the orchestra in 1982 at age 22, straight out of college, and will be retiring close to her 65th birthday…

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MSO Retiree Spotlight: Glenn Asch and Mary Terranova

David Jensen — Mon, 09 Jun 2025 22:07:28 +0000

Two retirees from the Milwaukee Symphony’s second violin section this year have new musical adventures awaiting them. The season-ending concerts in June will conclude the tenures of Glenn Asch, who joined the MSO in 1980, and Mary Terranova, who arrived in 1990. For most of his career, Asch has had an active sideline of playing violin in jazz, rock, and bluegrass groups, and he plans to do more…

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Violinist Tai Murray on Telling Musical Stories

David Jensen — Mon, 12 May 2025 13:53:41 +0000

Talk to Tai Murray about playing the violin, and more than once she will mention the importance of telling a story. But how do you tell a story about philosophy? That is a question that any violinist must consider before performing Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade after Plato’s Symposium, which Murray will play May 30-31 with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. But she has a lot of answers for how she…

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Musician Profile: Dietrich Hemann on a Life in Music

David Jensen — Thu, 01 May 2025 14:33:40 +0000

Even though almost every piece Dietrich Hemann plays says “Horn II” at the top, he still has to be versatile. “Being a good second horn player is a state of mind,” said Hemann, who has held that position in the Milwaukee Symphony since 2008. “It’s an attitude of collaboration and deference to what the first horn is doing and helping the first horn and section sound better.

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Yaniv Dinur Returns for Tchaikovsky’s Fourth

David Jensen — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 14:18:47 +0000

For eight years, Yaniv Dinur was the popular resident conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, leading dozens of concerts every year and reaching audiences of all ages with his dry humor. Later this month, he will return as a full-fledged guest conductor, leading the orchestra in a subscription program of music by Barber, Prokofiev, and Tchaikovsky. But he won’t have to travel far.

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WATCH: Supporter Spotlight: George Forish

David Jensen — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 19:02:15 +0000

“Music is our society’s DNA,” says Mr. George Forish, a dedicated supporter who has been attending Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concerts for an impressive 50 seasons. Hear him share, in his own words, why the MSO is a valuable thread in Milwaukee’s rich artistic fabric.

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Marimba Superstar Ji Su Jung Champions Puts Concerto

David Jensen — Wed, 19 Mar 2025 19:12:03 +0000

As an aspiring young marimba player, Ji Su Jung did not have many role models. “If you play violin or piano, you know as a child that you can grow up to be a soloist,” Jung said recently, before visiting Milwaukee to perform Kevin Puts’s Marimba Concerto on April 4-5 on a program that also includes works by Beethoven and Copland. “I wish that I had known it was possible. But if I can be the one…

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