The Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra (MYSO) Jazz Heritage Festival will be back for four days from Feb. 26-29.
Most of the festival’s programming will be held at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center (325 W. Walnut St.) along with one special event at the Jazz Estate (2423 N. Murray Ave.). The four-day festival includes performances by young musicians from the MYSO’s jazz studies program; a clinic led by a special guest artist and educator; and an 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28 concert including Bronzeville Jazz, the MYSO’s faculty ensemble, at the Jazz Estate.
MYSO has been around since 1956 and has grown from 30 students to become the largest after-school youth orchestra in the country. The orchestra serves 6,000 students annually through more than 40 ensemble and supplemental training programs. MYSO enrolls around a thousand of the area’s young musicians who come from more than 200 schools, 90 zip codes and as many as 14 counties throughout southeastern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Each year, outreach programs are provided to an additional 6,000 youth and reach an audience of 25,000 through more than 100 public performances.
The stated vision of the MYSO: “Uniting us through the power of music, MYSO will be an inviting and inspirational place for your minds that fosters excellence and character through ensemble musicianship, along with lifelong learning about how we see ourselves, each other and the world around us.”
Admission to the Friday night Jazz Estate is $13. Admission to all other events is “pay-what-you-can.”
