THE MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND MUSIC DIRECTOR KEN-DAVID MASUR ANNOUNCE 2024.25 CLASSICS SEASON
Masur and the MSO explore the beauty and power of words and music throughout the year
MUSIC DIRECTOR KEN-DAVID MASUR opens the Classics Season with Rimsky-Korsakov’s SCHEHERAZADE, featuring MSO CONCERTMASTER JINWOO LEE
BASS-BARITONE AND ARTISTIC PARTNER DASHON BURTON returns for a second season and will perform the works of MAHLER, BACH, and BRAHMS
The 2024.25 season features beloved masterworks including BRUCKNER’S SYMPHONY NO. 4, TCHAIKOVSKY’S ROMEO AND JULIET, COPLAND’S LINCOLN PORTRAIT, BARTÓK’S THE MIRACULOUS MANDARIN, MENDELSSOHN’S SCOTTISH SYMPHONY, BEETHOVEN’S SYMPHONY NO. 4, RESPIGHI’S PINES OF ROME,
and BRAHMS’S SYMPHONY NO. 1
The season highlights the works of nine LIVING COMPOSERS including Dobrinka Tabakova, Clarice Assad, Jessie Montgomery, Camille Pépin, Anna Clyne, Richard Danielpour, Kevin Puts, Tania Leon, and Aaron Jay Kernis
The MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY CHORUS, directed by Dr. Cheryl Frazes Hill, joins the MSO for performances of POULENC’S GLORIA, BACH’S CHRISTMAS ORATORIO, BRAHMS’S GERMAN REQUIEM, and the SEASON FINALE: GREAT MOMENTS IN GRAND OPERA
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GUEST CONDUCTORS for the 2024.25 season include Gemma New, Jean-Marie Zeitouni, Ruth Reinhardt, Nicholas McGegan, Michael Sanderling, David Danzmayr, Ryan Tani, Yaniv Dinur, Stefan Asbury, and Rachell Ellen Wong will double as violin and leader for Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons
Featured GUEST ARTISTS include Dashon Burton (bass-baritone), Simon Trpčeski (piano), Vadim Gluzman (violin), Joélle Harvey (soprano), Alessio Bax (piano), Saleem Ashkar (piano), Ingrid Fliter (piano), Claire Huangci (piano),
Ji Su Jung (marimba), Alexander Korsantia (piano), and Tai Murray (violin)
The season will also feature MSO MUSICIANS, including Jinwoo Lee (violin), Todd Levy (clarinet), Jeanyi Kim (violin), Kevin Pearl (oboe), and Susan Babini (cello)
Milwaukee, Wis. 3/22/2024 – The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Ken-David Masur announced plans today for the 2024.25 Classics Season at the Bradley Symphony Center. Masur’s sixth season with the MSO will celebrate music that includes or is inspired by language, poetry, lyrics, and stories. The Classics Season, which is comprised of timeless masterpieces and exciting new works, has been expanded to 20 weekends from 18, and Masur will conduct 10 programs, including the second annual Bach Fest program in March 2025. Subscriptions for the 2024.25 season are on sale now. Single tickets will be available on August 12.
“I am thrilled to announce the lineup for the 2024-25 Classics Season of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra,” said Masur. “In the upcoming season, we will explore the beauty and power of words and music to create an immersive and powerful experience. Composers have always been exceptional storytellers, weaving together poetry, sacred texts, and narratives to write music that explores the most fundamental questions and experiences of life. This season’s repertoire reflects a broad range of cultural and historical diversity, with stories that bring joy, wonder, and discovery into our lives. We invite our community to join us in Allen-Bradley Hall, where our orchestra, chorus, and guest artists, including our Artistic Partner Dashon Burton, will take you on a musical journey like no other.”
Bass-Baritone Dashon Burton returns for a second season with the MSO
Artistic Partner Dashon Burton will be returning for the 2024.25 season to perform three concert weekends featuring Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of the Wayfarer), Bach’s Cantata Ich habe genug, and Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem. Currently, Burton and the MSO are enjoying a successful and artistically fulfilling first season, which included his participation in the orchestra’s annual Teen Choral Partners concert, and Burton will join the orchestra next season for the Bach celebration in March 2025.
MSO Concertmaster Jinwoo Lee concerto solo debut
Jinwoo Lee, MSO concertmaster, will debut as a featured concerto soloist with the orchestra in January 2025. Lee joined the orchestra in September 2023 and will be performing Sibelius’s Violin Concerto in D minor, Opus 47. Masur, who praised Lee’s performance style, spoke highly of his energy, musical curiosity, and “great artistic spontaneity.”
Debut guest artist and conductor performances with the MSO
Guest artists and conductors who will debut with the MSO include Jean-Marie Zeitouni (conductor, October 2024), Saleem Ashkar (piano, January 2025), Michael Sanderling (conductor, February/March 2025), Claire Huangci (piano, March 2025), Ji Su Jung (marimba, April 2025), Alexander Korsantia (piano, April 2025), and Tai Murray (violin, May 2025).
Bach’s Christmas Oratorio opens the holiday season
Masur, the MSO, and the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus will open the holiday season at the Bradley Symphony Center with one of Bach’s most opulent musical achievements, his Christmas Oratorio. The orchestra and chorus will perform the first three cantatas of the oratorio on November 22-24.
Music Director Ken-David Masur will celebrate sixth season with the MSO
Music Director Ken-David Masur’s sixth season with the MSO will feature a diverse programmatic mix of beloved classics and intriguing pieces by contemporary composers. Works will include Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, Dobrinka Tabakova’s Orpheus’ Comet, Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony, Clarice Assad’s Nhanderú, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Nielsen’s Pan and Syrinx, Anna Clyne’s Within Her Arms, Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet, Copland’s Lincoln Portrait, Ives’s Symphony No. 2, Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem, Rossini’s Overture to William Tell, R. Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks, Tania Leon’s Ácana, Respighi’s Pines of Rome, Aaron Jay Kernis’s Colored Field, and Brahms’s Symphony No. 1.
Masur’s performances will also include the orchestra’s Bach Festival in March, and it will conclude with a program highlighting operatic favorites performed with the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus.
The full list of programs, artists, and repertoire is listed below.
C01 – Scheherazade: Prophets and Heroines
Fri, Sep 27, 2024 at 7:30 pm
Sat, Sep 28, 2024 at 7:30 pm
Sun, Sep 29, 2024 at 2:30 pm
Ken-David Masur, conductor
Simon Trpčeski, piano
Dobrinka Tabakova Orpheus’ Comet
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 1
Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade
C02 – Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony: Wanderers Awaken
Fri, Oct 4, 2024 at 7:30 pm
Sat, Oct 5, 2024 at 7:30 pm
Ken-David Masur, conductor
Dashon Burton, bass-baritone
Clarice Assad Nhanderú
Mahler Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
Bruckner Symphony No. 4
C03 – Gemma New Conducts Sibelius
Fri, Oct 11, 2024 at 11:15 am
Sat, Oct 12, 2024 at 7:30 pm
Gemma New, conductor
Vadim Gluzman, violin
Jessie Montgomery Coincident Dances
Szymanowski Violin Concerto No. 2
Sibelius Symphony No. 2
C04 – Poulenc’s Gloria
Fri, Oct 25, 2024 at 7:30 pm
Sat, Oct 26, 2024 at 7:30 pm
Jean-Marie Zeitouni, conductor
Joélle Harvey, soprano
Milwaukee Symphony Chorus
Cheryl Frazes Hill, director
Boulanger D’un matin de printemps
Ravel Shéhérazade
Camille Pépin Aux confins de l’orange
Poulenc Gloria
C05 – Reinhardt Conducts Beethoven
Fri, Nov 15, 2024 at 11:15 am
Sat, Nov 16, 2024 at 7:30 pm
Ruth Reinhardt, conductor
Alessio Bax, piano
Weber Overture to Oberon
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3
Haydn Symphony No. 80 in D minor
Hindemith Symphonic Metamorphosis
C06 – Bach’s Christmas Oratorio
Fri, Nov 22, 2024 at 7:30 pm
Sat, Nov 23, 2024 at 7:30 pm
Sun, Nov 24, 2024 at 2:30 pm
Ken-David Masur, conductor
Milwaukee Symphony Chorus
Cheryl Frazes Hill, director
Bach Christmas Oratorio
CO7 – McGegan Conducts Haydn
Fri, Jan 17, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Sat, Jan 18, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Nicholas McGegan, conductor
Saleem Ashkar, piano
Mozart Symphony No. 33 in B-flat
Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No. 1
M. Haydn Incidental Music from Zaïre
Haydn Symphony No. 100, “Military”
C08 – Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet: “Within Her Arms” – Expressions of Love
Fri, Jan 24, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Sat, Jan 25, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Ken-David Masur, conductor
Jinwoo Lee, violin
Nielsen Pan and Syrinx
Sibelius Violin Concerto in D minor, Opus 47
Anna Clyne Within Her Arms
Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet
C09 – Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons
Fri, Jan 31, 2025 at 11:15 am
Sat, Feb 1, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Sun, Feb 2, 2025 at 2:30 pm
Rachell Ellen Wong, violin & leader
Vivaldi The Four Seasons
C10 – American Voices
Fri, Feb 21, 2025 at 11:15 am
Sat, Feb 22, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Ken-David Masur, conductor
Todd Levy, clarinet
Copland Lincoln Portrait
Richard Danielpour From the Mountaintop
Ives Symphony No. 2
C11 – Ingrid Fliter plays Mozart
Fri, Feb 28, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Sat, Mar 1, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Michael Sanderling, conductor
Ingrid Fliter, piano
Delius Walk to the Paradise Garden
Mozart Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major, K. 453
Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet
C12 – Mendelssohn’s Third Symphony
Fri, Mar 7, 2025 at 11:15 am
Sat, Mar 8, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Sun, Mar 9, 2025 at 2:30 pm
David Danzmayr, conductor
Claire Huangci, piano
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 6, op.61a
Mendelssohn Symphony No. 3, “Scottish”
C13 – Bach Celebration
Fri, Mar 21, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Sat, Mar 22, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Sun, Mar 23, 2025 at 2:30 pm
Ken-David Masur, conductor
Dashon Burton, bass-baritone
Jeanyi Kim, violin
Kevin Pearl, oboe
Bach Concerto for Violin & Oboe
Bach Cantata “Ich habe genug”
Bach Brandenburg No. 4
Bach Orchestral Suite No. 4
C14 – Copland’s Appalachian Spring
Fri, Apr 4, 2025 at 11:15 am
Sat, Apr 5, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Ryan Tani, conductor
Ji Su Jung, marimba
Copland Appalachian Spring
Kevin Puts Marimba Concerto
Beethoven Symphony No. 4
C15 – Brahms Requiem: Your heart shall rejoice
Fri, Apr 11, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Sat, Apr 12, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Sun, Apr 13, 2025 at 2:30 pm
Ken-David Masur, conductor
Dashon Burton, baritone
Milwaukee Symphony Chorus
Cheryl Frazes Hill, director
Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem
C16 – Dinur Conducts Tchaikovsky
Sat, Apr 26, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Sun, Apr 27, 2025 at 2:30 pm
Yaniv Dinur, conductor
Alexander Korsantia, piano
Barber Overture to School for Scandal
Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4
C17 – Pines of Rome
Fri, May 9, 2025 at 11:15 am
Sat, May 10, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Ken-David Masur, conductor
Rossini Overture to William Tell
Strauss Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks
Tania Leon Ácana
Respighi Pines of Rome
C18 – Bernstein & Bartók
Fri, May 30, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Sat, May 31, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Stefan Asbury, conductor
Tai Murray, violin
Smetana Vyšehrad (The High Castle) from Má vlast
Bernstein Serenade after Plato’s Symposium
Bernstein Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
Bartók The Miraculous Mandarin
C19 – Masur Conducts Brahms
Fri, Jun 6, 2025 at 11:15 am
Sat, Jun 7, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Ken-David Masur, conductor
Susan Babini, cello
Aaron Jay Kernis Colored Field
Brahms Symphony No. 1
C20 – Season Finale: Great Moments in Grand Opera
Fri, Jun 13, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Sat, Jun 14, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Sun, Jun 15, 2025 at 2:30 pm
Ken-David Masur, conductor
Milwaukee Symphony Chorus
Cheryl Frazes Hill, director
Music director Ken-David Masur leads the Milwaukee Symphony and Chorus in a grand season finale. Thrill to favorite selections by master composers including Wagner, Mozart, Verdi, and more.
About the 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 72 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, Dobrinka Tabakova, and Matthias Pintscher, as well as garnered national recognition as the first American orchestra to offer live recordings on iTunes. Now in its 52nd season, the orchestra’s nationally syndicated radio broadcast series, the longest consecutive-running series of any U.S. orchestra, is heard annually by more than two million listeners. 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, and Family Series.
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