WPR

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra On Stage

Since its inception in 1959, the “Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra” has consistently received critical acclaim for artistic excellence. Each January through March WPR is pleased to broadcast recordings from the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra season.

Lori Skelton hosts the series that airs Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m. on WPR Music stations and streams.

Schedule

WPR Music, Sundays, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra

2024 Schedule

Sunday, May 26

Conductor: Ken-David Masur
Soloist: Aaron Diehl, piano

  • Wynton Marsalis: “Herald, Holler and Hallelujah”
  • George Gershwin: Piano Concerto in F
  • James P. Johnson: “Carolina Shout” (solo piano)
  • Duke Ellington: “Single Petal of a Rose” (solo piano)
  • Richard Strauss: Alpin Symphony
  • Thelonius Monk: “Monk’s Mood” (solo piano)

Sunday, June 2

Conductor: Jonathan Heyward and Jade Bignamini
Soloist: James Engels, violin

  • Jessie Montgomery: Records From a Vanishing City
  • Sergei Prokofiev: Violin Concerto #2 in g minor
  • J. S. Bach: Andante from Sonata #2 in a minor (solo violin)
  • Niccolo Paganini: Caprice #16 in g minor (solo violin)
  • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Ballade in a minor
  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphony #5 in e minor

Sunday, June 9

Conductor: Ken-David Masur and Edo de Waart
Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

  • Iman Habibi: “Jeder Baum Spricht”
  • Robert Schumann: Symphony #1 in B-Flat Major “Spring”
  • Johannes Brahms: “Gesang der Parzen”
  • Johannes Brahms: “Schicksalslied”
  • Johannes Brahms, arr. Ken-David Masur: Academic Festival Overture
  • Johannes Brahms: Variations on a Theme by Haydn

Sunday, June 16

Conductor: David Robertson and Ken-David Masur
Soloist: Orli Shaham, piano

  • Maurice Ravel: Une barque sur l’ocean
  • Frederic Chopin: Piano Concerto #2 in f minor
  • Maurice Ravel: “Menuet” from Sonatine (solo piano)
  • Olivier Messiaen: L’Ascension 
  • Maurice Ravel: La Valse 
  • Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 1 in C major

Sunday, June 23

Conductor: Ken-David Masur
Soloist: Babe Skride, violin

  • Jean Sibelius: Night Ride and Sunrise
  • Sebastian Currier: Aether
  • Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony #3 in E-Flat Major “Eroica”
  • Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony #2 in D Major

Sunday, June 30

Conductor: Nicholas McGegan, Ken-David Masur, and Alexander Shelley

Soloists: Ilana Setapen, violin; Jennifer Bouton, piccolo

  • Jean-Philippe Rameau: Suite from “Naïs”
  • Antonio Vivaldi: Violin Concerto in F major RV 569
  • George Frederic Handel: Water Music Suite No. 1  
  • Felix Mendelssohn: Hebrides Overture
  • Franz Josef Haydn: Symphony No. 96 in D major

Sunday, July 7

Conductor: Ken-David Masure                        

Soloist: Chris Lamb, percussion

  • Bedrich Smetana:  The Moldau  
  • Adolphus Hailstork: An American Port of Call
  • Toru Takemitsu: Toward the Sea II  
  • David Ludwig: Pictures from the Floating World
  • Claude Debussy: La Mer
  • Tan Dun: Water Concerto

Sunday, July 14

Conductor: Han-na Chang, Markus Stenz, and Ken-David Masur

Soloist: Stephen Hough, piano

  • Anna Clyne: This Midnight Hour
  • Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in e minor
  • Frederic Chopin: Nocturne in E flat, Op. 9/2 (solo piano)
  • Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 in d minor
  • Sergei Prokofiev:  Symphony No. 1 “Classical”

Sunday, July 21

Conductor: Roderick Cox and Zdenek Macal

Soloist: Inon Barnatan, piano

  • Richard Strauss: Don Juan
  • Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto #4 in G Major
  • Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 6 in F major, Finale (piano solo)
  • Jean Sibelius: Symphony #5 in E-Flat Major
  • Antonin Dvorak: Czech Suite

 

Sunday, July 28

Conductor: Yaniv Dinur and Jonathan Hayward

Soloist: Joyce Yang, piano

  • Antonin Dvorak: In Nature’s Realm
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor K. 491  
  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: May Starlit Nights (piano solo)
  • Edvard Grieg:  Notturno, from “Lyric Pieces”
  • Witold Lutoslawski: Concerto for Orchestra  
  • Antonin Dvorak: Symphony #8 in G Major

Sunday, August 4

Conductor: Ken-David Masur

Soloists: Aaron Diehl, piano, David Wong, bass, Aaron Kimmel, drums, Alicia Hill Moran, mezzo-soprano, women of the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

  • Williams Grant Still: Symphony No. 2 “Song of a New Race” excerpts
  • Mary Lou Williams: The Zodiac Suite
  • Gustav Holst: The Planets

Sunday, August 11

Conductor: Edo de Waart

Soloists: Matthew Annin, French horn, Ronald Brautigam, piano

  • Johannes Brahms: Serenade No.2 in A major
  • Richard Strauss: Horn Concerto #1 in E-Flat Major
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony #41 in C Major, K. 551 “Jupiter”
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major K.503

Sunday, August 18

Conductor: Ken-David Masur and Yang Dinur

Soloists: Jessica Rivera, soprano and Anna Larsson, mezzo-soprano, Milwaukee Symphony Chorus

  • Toru Takemitsu: Rain Coming
  • Benjamin Britten: Four Sea Interludes
  • Gustav Mahler: Symphony #2 in c minor “Resurrection”