Conductor

Now considered one of Bach’s most opulent musical achievements, his Christmas Oratorio went unheard for over a century after its first performances, until a resurgence of holiday celebrations brought it back into fashion. Each of its six cantatas was intended for a Christmas high feast day; Music Director Ken-David Masur and the MSO are joined by the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus to ensure the oratorio’s messages of contemplation, abundance, and jubilation ring from the rafters.

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Bach’s Christmas Oratorio

Warner Grand Theater

Poulenc’s Gloria, with its unexpected blend of secular and sacred sounds, fascinated (and scandalized) audiences from its first performances. “While writing it I had in mind those Crozzoli frescoes with angels sticking out their tongues,” the composer remarked. Lili Boulanger’s impressionistic “Of a Spring Morning” introduces the program with a bright festivity. Jean-Marie Zeitouni, a conductor of “ebullience and infectious enjoyment” (Boulder Weekly), leads this vivacious performance, which invites the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus and soprano Joélle Harvey to the stage for an evening of exultation that will keep music-lovers enraptured to its final whispered “Amen.”

Poulenc’s Gloria

Composer Carl Orff based Carmina Burana on two dozen poems – but far from odes of love, these verses deal in lust, gambling, drinking, and the fickle hand of fate (“O Fortuna!”). Music Director Ken-David Masur joins Artistic Partner Dashon Burton and the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus as they lend their voices to this bawdy cantata. Pairing well with Orff’s epic is Carlos Simon’s Fate Now Conquers, which refers to a notebook entry written by Beethoven and explores “the unpredictable ways of fate.” Between these, the MSO showcases its own Principal Trombone Megumi Kanda in Tan Dun’s Three Muses in Video Game, a daring and spiritual concerto which challenges the trombonist to evoke three ancient Chinese musical instruments.

Carmina Burana & Fate Now Conquers

Johann Sebastian Bach’s birthday celebration continues as Music Director Ken-David Masur, harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani, and Baroque violinist Rachell Ellen Wong lead the Milwaukee Symphony in favorite Bach masterpieces. This second of two programs culminates with Bach’s Magnificat, which celebrates its 300th anniversary in 2023. The Milwaukee Symphony Chorus lends its power to Magnificat’s story, in which Mary first discovers she will bear God’s son; its sacred message is told in her voice, beginning with “Magnificat anima mea Dominum” or “My soul magnifies the Lord.”

Bach Fest Ii: Magnificat

Music director Ken-David Masur leads the Milwaukee Symphony and Chorus in a grand season finale. Thrill to favorite selections by master composers including Wagner, Mozart, Verdi, and more.

Cheryl Frazes Hill

Conductor

Events

Upcoming events

13 - 15 Jun, 2025

Great Moments In Grand Opera · Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra

Past events

22 - 24 Nov, 2024

Bach’s Christmas Oratorio · Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra

25 - 26 Oct, 2024

Poulenc’s Gloria · Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra

About

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