Photo Courtesy of Festival City Symphony
Festival City Symphony Orchestra
The Festival City Symphony has offered family-friendly classical music for almost one hundred years. They will be celebrating their Centennial in 2027. Their concerts are free with a suggested donation. For many people, both young and old, this will be their first experience with live classical music. The Saturday Classics series are preceded by a pre-concert “Unlocking the Score” talk beginning at 1:30 p.m.
Celebrating the majesty of nature, the Festival City Symphony opens its 2026-2027 season 2 p.m. Saturday, October 24 with Smetana’s spirited homage to the famous Czech river, The Moldau. The composition musically follows the river from its source in mountain springs to its arrival in Prague. Next on the program is Benjamin Britten’s dramatic Four Sea Interludes. Taken from his opera Peter Grimes, it captures the unpredictable power of the North Sea.
After the intermission, music director Carter Simmons returns to the podium to conduct Jean Sibelius’s Symphony No. 1. Quoting the Festival City Symphony website, the symphony is “filled with sweeping melodies, bold orchestral colors, and the unmistakable spirit of Finland’s forests and lakes.”
The estimated concert length is 66 minutes and there will be a 20-minute intermission. The concert will take place at Bradley Symphony Center, 212 W. Wisconsin Ave.
More this Season
Three more programs complete the season. “Grace and Grandeur” is scheduled for Saturday, January 30, 2027, with music by Haydn and Mozart. “American Mosaic,” Saturday, March 6, celebrates the creativity, resilience and vision of four brilliant American women—Amy Beach, Jennifer Higdon, Joan Tower and Florence Price. The season’s final concert, “Heroic Visions,” is scheduled for Saturday, April 17. The orchestra will perform Beethoven’s Lenore Overture #3 and Anton Bruckner’s Sixth Symphony.
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As part of its mission to enrich the cultural life of the Milwaukee community, the Festival City Symphony offers free, fun-filled Pajama Jamborees. Please note these take place at the Bradley Pavilion, Marcus Performing Arts Center at 929 N Water St. The initial program, “Halloween Harmonies,” is on Wednesday, October 28. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with performances from 7-8 p.m. Admission is free, and no reservations are required. It will feature music from Harry Potter, Coco, Danse Macabre and more. Costumes are encouraged!
You can learn more about all the concerts as well as the remainder of the season on the Festival City Symphony website: festivalcitysymphony.org
