As a young child, I knew that music was special—at age 7, I began playing the piano and found my voice. Throughout my life, music has been captivating, inspiring, nurturing and challenging, and always at the center of who I am.
I began performing professionally in high school, then acquired Bachelor and Master of Music Performance degrees (from UW-Madison and Yale University, respectively). For more than 35 years, I was a professional musician—teaching, playing and recording throughout southeastern Wisconsin. With every major ensemble from the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Milwaukee Ballet to Skylight Music Theater, and from Present Music to chamber music, universities, conservatories, and a private studio, you could find me with my oboe and English horn.
I began working in arts administration nearly 30 years ago, as executive director of the Waukesha Symphony Orchestra (now Wisconsin Philharmonic). After leading that organization through significant growth, I moved to the United Performing Arts Fund, serving in a variety of roles and becoming chief operating officer. I completed my MBA (Marquette University) in 2011, and then my world came full circle in 2012, when I joined the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra as chief executive officer.
We transform the 900 young lives we serve each season, through more than 40 ensemble and enrichment programs. We use ensemble music to promote cognitive, emotional, and social skills that our students use to thrive in our program and succeed in life, no matter what their endeavors. I’m a MYSO alum (when we were Music for Youth), so I know first-hand about our impact on students.
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Today, young people need us more than ever, given all the stresses that are taking such a toll on them. They need resilience, socialization, teamwork, empathy, leadership, problem-solving, and creativity, all of which, research shows, they get from our program.
It’s a big year at MYSO in 2023-24: the 20th anniversary of Community Partnership Programs. These 11 programs focus on Milwaukee students who lack equitable access to music training, and who face financial barriers that rule out many other programs. We provide financial aid that can cover nearly all their yearly fees—which we keep well below the actual cost—as well as services like instruments, private lessons, and transportation. We never turn any student away because of finances; we ensure that all our students have the resources they need to participate in MYSO.
Our return to international touring, after the pandemic forced us to cancel our biennial trip in 2021, also marks this as a big year for MYSO. Last July, I was privileged to accompany an advanced orchestra of 97 students and alumni, plus 37 chaperones, other staff members, and adult companions on a journey to Belgium and the Netherlands. The trip offered dozens of educational and cultural opportunities for our young musicians, who performed three concerts -- culminating at the famous Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, where Kate Nanavatty, the U. S. Consul General, thanked us on behalf of our government. Together, we made memories and friends for a lifetime.
