Venue: Overture Hall
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
7:30 p.m.
$25-$45
Single tickets on sale Sept. 4th
As the MSO celebrates 100 years this season, it seemed only fitting to bring some of my MSO colleagues with me on stage to showcase their talent and our unique pairing. While the organ can be quite a loud instrument, it can also be used in a softer and more subtle way. With works like Handel’s G minor Organ Concerto and movements from Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto and Coleridge-Taylor’s Nonet, this program will demonstrate the versatility and more intimate side of our instrument. I’m also excited that the audience will get a chance to hear many of the musicians they hear in the orchestra perform some works as soloists with the organ. So sit back, relax, and let this incredible music fill you with joy and peace!
Featuring
Greg Zelek, organ
Featured MSO Musicians:
Leanne Kelso, violin I
Hillary Hempel, violin II
Christopher Dozoryst, viola
Karl Lavine, cello
David Scholl, bass
Izumi Amemiya, oboe
JJ Koh, clarinet
Cynthia Cameron, bassoon
Emma Potter, horn
Concert Run Time: Approx. 1 hour and 20 mins
Music
George Frideric Handel, Organ Concerto in G minor, HWV 289
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Movements from Nonet
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Movements from Clarinet and Horn Concertos
Johann Sebastian Bach, Double Concerto
Take Note: Drinks Allowed in Overture Hall
As of this season, drinks are allowed inside Overture Hall during all Madison Symphony Orchestra concerts. Refreshments may be purchased at bars and concession stands located around the Overture Hall lobby before each concert and during intermission. Please enjoy food in the lobby and unwrap any candy or cough drops before the performance begins. Thank you!
“Koh’s playing had an impressive dexterity; he gave shape and depth to the long, held out pitches that make this piece such a dream.” — The Cap Times
“…Emma Potter’s solos left me breathless.” — MSO Subscriber
“…Lavine’s solo was grabbing and soulful, sweet in the high registers of the instrument and robust in the low registers.” — The Cap Times
“…Cameron’s agile fingering made the piece a worthy departure from the rest of the holiday fare.” — The Cap Times
PRESENTING SPONSOR
William Steffenhagen
MAJOR SPONSORS
Peter and Leslie Overton
Judith Werner, in memory of Stephen Caldwell
Condon and Mary Vander Ark
Greg Zelek is the MSO’s Principal Organist and Elaine and Nicholas Mischler Curator of the Overture Concert Organ.
Leanne Kelso enjoys a varied career as a performer and teacher in the Midwest. She is the associate concertmaster of the Madison Symphony and assistant concertmaster of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. Leanne teaches a vibrant studio of violinists and violists at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where she also leads the Chancellor’s Quartet and the Baroque Ensemble. Recent solo performances include the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Lake Forest Symphony and Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy with Symphony 847 in Chicago. As a chamber musician, she performs with the UW-Whitewater Piano Trio, Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society in Madison, and the Illinois Chamber Music Festival in Bloomington.
Christopher Dozoryst serves as Principal Viola with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, a position he has held since 2007. He was the featured soloist with the symphony in September 2017, performing Harold in Italy by Hector Berlioz. Christopher also works with the Madison Symphony’s internationally recognized Heartstrings Program as the violist for the Rhapsodie String Quartet. Highlights of his involvement with the quartet include a 2013 tour of Germany, with performances in Wiesbaden and Freiburg. Additionally, Christopher has been a member of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra since 2005. He is also the violist and a founding member of the Madison-based Pecatonica String Quartet, who regularly perform throughout the Midwest region. Christopher earned his BA in Music Performance from the University of Wisconsin Madison in 1997 and his MMU in Viola Performance from Carnegie-Mellon University in 2000. He and his family live in Madison, WI.
Hailed by The Columbus Dispatch as having “gorgeous sound and dynamic nuance,” JJ Koh joined the Madison Symphony Orchestra as Principal Clarinet, The Barbara and Norman Berven Chair in 2016. For the 2018-2019 season, he served as Assistant Principal/Eb Clarinet with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and holds a position with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. Koh has been a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and performed with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Lyric Opera Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Richmond Symphony Orchestra, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, New World Symphony, and more. As a founding member of the Arundo Donax Reed Quintet, winners of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, JJ has commissioned and recorded multiple works, taught master classes, and performed in various concert settings across the country. Koh, the principal clarinetist of KammerMahler, has participated in the world-premiere recording project featuring chamber versions of Gustav Mahler’s Fourth and Ninth Symphonies. Additionally, he has premiered works by notable composers such as Augusta Reed Thomas, Bernard Rands, Valerie Coleman, Harry Stafylakis, and David Canfield and recorded with Nimbus Records, Tanner-Monagle, Enharmonic Records, and New Dynamic Records. Summer festival appearances have included the National Repertory Orchestra, Lake George Music Festival, Lakes Area Music Festival, Midsummer’s Music, Washington Island Music Festival, Music in the Mountains, Apollo Music Festival, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, and Aspen Music Festival where he held a Fellowship for five summers. Koh completed his Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees under the instruction of Eli Eban and James Campbell at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where he also served as an Associate Instructor. His final recital was awarded the Performer’s Certificate, one of the highest honors awarded by the institution. Koh is a D’Addario Woodwinds performing artist and product consultant.
Cynthia Cameron (bassoon) began playing with the Madison Symphony Orchestra in 1984 as second bassoon for 20 years, and now as principal bassoon. She has played in a wide variety of orchestras and chamber ensembles including Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Colorado Philharmonic Orchestra, Wingra Woodwind Quintet, Present Music, Whitewater Woodwind Quintet, Black Marigold, The Music Fix, Con Vivo and Madison Savoyards. She has performed on baroque bassoon with Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble and at Madison Early Music Festival. She has taught bassoon and coached chamber music at the UW-Madison, UW-Whitewater and in her private studio.
In addition to playing bassoon, Cindy has performed on baroque recorder with Trio Chiesa, Vox Venti, Madison Bach Musicians, and Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble. For several years she coached the Winds of Southern Wisconsin, a chapter of the American Recorder Society. Cindy also plays Celtic folk music on whistle and concertina with The Twa Dogs, who have produced two albums.
Cindy holds a Bachelor of Music degree from UW-Madison and a Master of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music.
Born in Surprise, Arizona, to a musical family, Emma Potter began playing violin in the third grade and French Horn in the fourth grade. Emma is now enjoying a vibrant music career performing with a wide
range of ensembles. Recently appointed Principal Horn of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Emma has performed in a variety of musical settings from church ensembles to chamber orchestras, musical theater pits, jazz bands, brass and woodwind quintets. In 2019, Emma was appointed principal horn of the New York Youth Symphony, a position she held until she completed her music studies in New York. She took part in a Grammy winning album produced in 2020 featuring world premieres and works from under-represented composers such as Florence Price, Valerie Coleman and Jessie Montgomery. In 2022 Emma made her solo debut with the Northern Neck Orchestra under the direction of Michael Repper performing Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 4 and was a finalist in the Rice University Shepherd School of Music Concerto competition. She has played with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, New York Chamber Music Society, and Boise Philharmonic. Her tour with the Seraph Brass Quintet featured performances in Philadelphia and New York.
Emma has had the opportunity to collaborate with amazing musicians all over the world, including Robert Johnson, Michelle Baker, John DeMain, Andrew Bain, and Steven Moechel. In addition, she has performed in top performance venues such as Carnegie hall, Jones Hall, and the Ozawa Concert Hall. Memorable performances include Sibelius 2, Scheherazade, Tchaikovsky 5th Symphony, and Alpine Symphony. Emma’s outreach activities have included individual educational performances in coffee shops, house concerts, and retirement centers. These solo performances have featured Elizabeth Raum’s Concerto for Horn, Catherine Lakuthia’s I Threw a Shoe at a Cat, and excerpts from Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 4. Collaborative outreach performances have included Eric Ewazen’s Pastorale, James Naigus’s Spectra, as well as various duets for mezzo soprano and horn, and smal popular holiday medleys. Coming from a musical family, Emma enjoys performing alongside her siblings’ trio, known as The Potter Trio. This horn, trombone and piano ensemble is now beginning a musical adventure as they extend their reach into competitions and recording. In 2023 they were finalists in the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle, and are in the process of recording an album together that will showcase music composed and arranged for their ensemble. Emma received her Bachelor of Music Degree in Performance from the Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of Michelle Baker and graduated with a Masters of Music in Horn Performance from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.