The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra broadcasts begin Jan. 1 and run through March 26 on NPR News & Music and All-Classical networks. Hear the broadcasts on WPR Sundays at 2 p.m., hosted by WPR’s Lori Skelton. This broadcast season pulls from concerts performed between fall 2021 and June 2022—the first full season of concerts by the Milwaukee Symphony in their own hall.
The new Bradley Symphony Center is housed in what was once an elegant movie palace, the Warner Grand Theatre. In honor of the building’s past, MSO Music Director Ken-David Masur threaded music from the 1920s and 1930s throughout the season. For example in the Jan. 1 broadcast, you’ll hear music by Duke Ellington, George Gershwin and Igor Stravinsky. And in a nod to cinema, the Jan. 29 concert features a 1935 piece by noted film score composer Erich Korngold, “Suite for Captain Blood.”
Listeners will delight in a piece commissioned especially for the debut of the hall, Eric Nathan’s “Opening,” in the Jan. 1 broadcast. For this piece, some of the soloists were offstage, scattered in different spots throughout the auditorium, creating what Masur called “a wonderful, wonderful energy.”
Lori also has some favorites to share, including when violinist Augustin Hadelich joins the symphony in the Jan. 29 broadcast. Hadelich plays a lesser known piece, the violin concerto by Benjamin Britten. “I’ve lost count of how many people told me, ‘I’d never heard this piece before, and it was incredible’,” Lori said. She is also eager for WPR listeners to hear pianist Aaron Diehl play music by Florence Price in the Feb. 5 broadcast. Price was a Black American composer whose work was almost lost after her death in the 1950s. Her work was rediscovered literally in the trash, and has undergone a revival recently. “We were so close to losing her work,” Lori said. “And when we hear it, it’s this incredible treasure.”
Find the complete Milwaukee Symphony broadcast schedule below. All broadcasts start at 2 p.m.
Jan. 1, 2023
CONDUCTOR: Ken-David Masur
SOLOIST: Aaron Diehl, piano
Eric Nathan: Opening
James B. Wilson: Green Fuse
George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (Arr. Ferde Grofe)
Duke Ellington: New World A-Comin’ (Arr. Henderson/Tyzik)
Stravinsky: Suite from The Firebird
Jan. 8
CONDUCTOR: Ken-David Masur
SOLOIST: Chee-Yun, violin
Charbrier: Joyeuse Marche
Lalo: Symphonie espagnole
Ravel: Rapsodie espagnole
Gabriela Lena Frank: Three Latin-American Dances for Orchestra
De Falla: Suite No. 2 from The Three-Cornered Hat
Jan. 15
CONDUCTOR: Andreas Delfs
SOLOIST: Olga Kern, piano
Wagner: “Siegfried's Rhine Journey” from Götterdämmerung
Grieg: Concerto in A minor for Piano and Orchestra
Sarah Kirkland Snider: Something for the Dark
Humperdinck: Hansel and Gretel, Orchestral Suite
Jan. 22
CONDUCTOR: William Eddins
SOLOIST: Karen Gomyo, violin
Nino Rota: Concerto Per Archi
Respighi: The Fountains of Rome
Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1
Jan. 29
CONDUCTOR: Ken-David Masur
SOLOIST: Augustin Hadelich, violin
Coleridge-Taylor
Perkinson: Generations: Sinfonietta No. 2 for String Orchestra
Korngold: Suite from Captain Blood
Britten: Concerto No. 1 for Violin and Orchestra
Shostakovich: Suite from The Golden Age
Hindemith: Mathis der Maler Symphony
Feb. 5
CONDUCTOR: Ken-David Masur
SOLOIST: Aaron Diehl, piano
Ives: Three Places in New England
Price: Piano Concerto in One Movement
Barber: First Symphony (in One Movement)
Gershwin: Second Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra
Feb. 12
CONDUCTOR: Edo De Waart
SOLOIST: Susan Babini, cello
Delius: In a Summer Garden
Elgar: Concerto in E Minor for Cello and Orchestra
Beethoven: Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral”
Feb. 19
CONDUCTOR: Ken-David Masur
SOLOIST: Jorge Federico Osorio, piano
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 23
Bruckner: Symphony No. 7
Feb. 26
CONDUCTOR: Various (see below)
SOLOIST: Various (see below)
Perkinson: Sinfonietta No. 1 for Strings
Yaniv Dinur, conductor
Harris: Symphony No. 3, in One Movement
Thomas Wilkins, conductor
Schulhoff: Jazz Concerto (Hot Sonata) for Alto Saxophone and Chamber Ensemble
Thomas Wilkins, conductor; Timothy McAllister, saxophone
Bolcom: Concerto in D for Violin and Orchestra
Ken-David Masur, conductor; Ilana Setapen, violin
Hanson: Symphony No. 2, Op. 30, “Romantic”
Thomas Wilkins, conductor
March 5
CONDUCTOR: Ken-David Masur
SOLOISTS: John Brancy, baritone, Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano; Milwaukee Symphony Chorus; Cheryl Frazes Hill, director
Takemitsu: Requiem for Strings
Ken-David Masur, conductor
Canteloube: Chants d’Auvergne, 2nd series
Chants d’Auvergne, 3rd series
Chants d’Auvergne, 1st series
Ibert: Concertino da camera for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra
Thomas Wilkins, conductor; Timothy McAllister, saxophone
Mochizuki: Musubi II
Ken-David Masur, conductor
Durufle: Requiem, Op. 9
Ken-David Masur, conductor; John Brancy, baritone; Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano
March 12
CONDUCTOR: Ruth Reinhardt
SOLOIST: Alessio Bax, piano
Wennakoski: Flounce
Dvořák: Symphony No. 5 in F major (old No. 3)
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
March 19
CONDUCTOR: Ken-David Masur
SOLOIST: Awadgin Pratt, piano
Strauss: Metamorphosen
Montgomery: Rounds for Piano and String Orchestra
Mendelssohn: Overture to Die Heimkehr aus der Fremde
Schumann: Symphony No. 4 in D minor (1841 version)
March 26
CONDUCTOR: Ken-David Masur
SOLOIST: Aizuri Quartet; Felicia Moore, soprano; Deborah Nansteel, mezzo-soprano; Andrew Haji, tenor; Nathan Berg, bass-baritone; Milwaukee Symphony Chorus; Cheryl Frazes Hill, director
Adams: Absolute Jest for String Quartet and Orchestra
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, “Choral”