We have an exciting year of Education and Community Engagement ahead! We look forward to serving nearly 25,000 people in our community through young people’s concerts, preconcert lectures, young artist competitions, open rehearsals, lunches with our guest artists, early childhood education, music therapy-inspired programming at healthcare facilities, master classes, community recitals, and numerous school visits.
Especially exciting is the opportunity to work with so many amazing partners in making great music available to everyone. This year the Rhapsodie Quartet of the HeartStrings® community engagement program will collaborate with ten different facilities (click here for more information) to bring music to individuals who have health issues that do not allow them to leave their homes to access it in other venues. We will also be partnering with our beloved mentor, Laurie Farnan, MMT, MT-BC, WMTR, in presenting HeartStrings® at the American Music Therapy Association National Conference in November. The Rhapsodie Quartet members – Suzanne Beia, Laura Burns, Chris Dozoryst, Karl Lavine, and many MSO members who have served as substitute musicians – deserve a resounding congratulations for the amazing work they do season after season to connect with all the people we serve.
The Hunt Quartet of the Up Close and Musical® program has three returning members – Ava Shadmani, Fabio Saggin, and Alex Chambers Ozasky – and one new member, Rachel Reese! The Hunt Quartet is funded through a partnership between the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Mead Witter School of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with major funding from David and Kato Perlman, the Madison Symphony Orchestra, and other donors. Up Close & Musical® is a program of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, and this year we are partnering with six schools (click here for more information) to offer numerous students in kindergarten through third grade the opportunity to see professional musicians up close and learn foundational musical concepts.
Both of our young artist competitions will be held at First United Methodist Church, with the final round of the Bolz Young Artist Competition held in Overture Hall and broadcast on Wisconsin Public Television and Wisconsin Public Radio for the fourteenth time! The list of our partners and collaborations goes on and on – each one is so important. As a team we achieve the goal of enriching, engaging and inspiring our community with great music, and I look forward to what we can accomplish together this year and in years to come.
By Kathryn Schwarzmann
Director of Education and Community Engagment