Photo via Facebook - Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra
Violins of Hope opening night - MYSO
Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra performs 'Violins of Hope;
Free all-day community concerts at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center will feature performances from every Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra ensemble with larger orchestras and ensembles performing in the Harris Theater and the Jazz Combos and Steel Bands performing in the Dawes Studio.
These are the yearly concerts where hundreds of students participate in fund raisers to ensure that MYSO programs are accessible to all. This year they are especially important and are a continuation of the “Violins of Hope–Wisconsin Residency” and feature moving performances on restored instruments once played by Jewish musicians that were rescued from the Holocaust. On Saturday, Nov. 1, 13-year-old violinist Colette Wiering will be the featured soloist with the Senior Symphony in a selection from Schindler’s List.
The Milwaukee Youth Symphony started in 1956 with 30 students and one orchestra and has now grown to more than 1,000 students and 40 ensembles from traditional classical groups to jazz and steel pan bands.
Linda Edelstein, the CEO of MYSO, says, “The importance of MYSO as a catalyst for youth development and community change has not gone unnoticed. In the 2015-16 season, MYSO received a National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, the country’s highest honor for afterschool youth arts and humanities programs, presented by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.” Representatives from the organization accepted the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award from First Lady Michelle Obama in the East Room of the White House on November 17, 2015.
MYSO serves musicians, age 8-18, who come from 200 schools, 90 zip codes, and up to 14 counties throughout Southeast Wisconsin. In addition, it provides outreach programs to an additional 5,000 youth and reaches an audience of 25,000 through more than 150 public performances.
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MYSO is a place “where passion for the arts takes root, lifelong friendships begin, and next-generation leaders and innovators see a path to the future. It’s closing the opportunity gap, instilling citizenship, creating visionaries.”
Also note that on November 16, 2 p.m. in the Bradley Symphony Center, MYSO’s Senior Symphony will present a concert in the Violins of Hope Wisconsin journey led by artistic and music director Carter Simmons. It will feature guest conductor Margery Deutsch, soprano Brennan Martinez, narrator Emily Honigman, and internationally acclaimed violist (and MYSO graduate) Wendy Richman. The program includes works by Górecki, Bloch, Albinoni, and Tilson Thomas—a stirring tribute to remembrance, courage, and survival.
Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra will perform 10:30 a.m.-4:45 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1; and Sunday, Nov. 2, 2 p.m.–6:15 p.m. at Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts in Brookfield. For more information, visit https://myso.org/
