MYSO Announces 2015-16 Season Highlights at Annual Meeting

On Tuesday, December 6, 2016, Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra (MYSO) held its Annual Meeting to share highlights of its 2015-16 season and to announce the newly elected Board of Directors for 2016-17.

From touring for eleven days in Europe to the White House, and staging more than 80 performances throughout the season, Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra had an outstanding year.

• In November 2015, MYSO was awarded the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, the nation's highest honor for after-school arts and humanities programs.
  • In the award's history, MYSO is only one of three youth arts organizations in Wisconsin and the only youth orchestra program in the country that has received this honor.
• MYSO embarked on an 11-day tour to Vienna, Austria, and Budapest, Hungary, in summer of 2015.
  • The 93-member orchestra presented four performances in some of the world's finest concert halls, including Vienna's Musikverein and Budapest's Béla Bartók National Concert Hall.
• 2015-16 represents ongoing success for MYSO's Community Partnership Programs, confirmed by comprehensive research that includes a recurring annual survey of students, parents, MYSO teachers and classroom teachers.
  • Last season's results show 59% combined average growth in music, cognitive and personal skills as a direct result of program exposure.
  • Once again, MYSO's ability to fill in gaps in student development has been confirmed in the areas of leadership, teamwork, self-expression, problem solving, self-esteem and time management. It has become a defining hallmark of the organization's programming.

MYSO announced the election to the Board of Directors for the current fiscal year, through the fiscal year ending June 30, 2017:

Directors and Officers, 2016-17

CHAIR:

• Mike Jordan, American Red Cross, Senior Development Director

IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR:

• Jennifer Mattes, Johnson Controls, Director, Global Public Affairs

TREASURER:

• Craig Peotter, Robert W. Baird, Finance Director

DIRECTORS:

• Myra Edwards, City of Milwaukee, Staff Advisor/Office of the Mayor
• Erik Eisenmann, Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Attorney, Shareholder
• Patricia A. Ellis, Ed.D, Marquette University, Adjunct Assistant Professor
• David Frank, PNC Bank, WI North Regional Manager
• Timothy Frautschi, Retired/ Foley & Lardner, Partner
• Dennis Garrett, PhD, Marquette University, School of Business (retired), Associate Professor of Marketing
• Mark Goldstein, Goldstein Law Group, S.C., President
• Troy Hilliard, Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren S.C., Shareholder
• Renee Johnson, We Energies, Commodity Portfolio Manager
• Gregory Kliebhan, Marquette University (retired), Corporate and Senior Vice President/ Co-Chief Operating Officer
• Paul Mathews, Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, President
• Jamshed Patel, Foley & Lardner, Attorney, Partner
• John Pienkos, Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., Attorney, Shareholder
• Andrew Sajdak, Stan's Fit for Your Feet, Partnership Manager
• Matt Sauer, Northwestern Mutual, Director of IT Architecture
• Kent Tess-Mattner, Schmidt Rupke Tess-Mattner & Fox, S.C., Attorney, Shareholder
• Michael Van Handel, ManpowerGroup, External Vice President and CFO
• Christine Williams, Marcus Hotels and Resorts, Senior Director of Marketing & E-Commerce Strategy

Retiring MYSO Board Members:

• Mike Fischer
• Patty Hanz
• Patrick Rath

At Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra (MYSO), we empower young people from diverse backgrounds to joyfully pursue musical excellence while building crucial life skills.

MYSO is one of the largest most successful and respected youth orchestra programs in the nation, regularly recognized regionally, nationally and internationally for its artistic excellence.

In 2016-17, the organization celebrates its sixty-first season. In honor of its many achievements, MYSO was selected as a 2015 winner of the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, the country's highest honor for after-school youth arts programs, presented by the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. MYSO received the award from First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House.

Instrumental in changing lives since 1956, MYSO's programs foster critical thinking skills, creativity and collaboration through more than 40 ensemble and enrichment options, ranging from symphony, string orchestras, jazz and steel pan bands, to music theory, composition, and international tours all providing high quality musical experiences to students at various skill levels.

MYSO is a proud founding member of the United Performing Arts Fund. For more information, call Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra at 414-267-2950, or go to our website at www.myso.org.