MYSO offers 40 ensemble and training programs under one roof. From string orchestras to steel bands, music theory and composition to tuoring — these are programs that enable our students to explore the gift of music.
Full Symphony Orchestras
MYSO’s flagship orchestra is the Senior Symphony with 125 members. It has long been recognized as one of the nation’s top youth music ensembles, and tours globally.
Abby - Saint-Saëns, The Swan (2020-04) by Abby HannaMilwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra
Senior Symphony cellist, Abby, performing Camille Saint-Saens "The Swan," during the coronavirus quarantine period.
MYSO Chamber Orchestra (2018-02-11)Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra
Chamber Orchestra is an advanced orchestra with less than 50 members and offers many solo opportunities.
Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra Performance (2019-02) by Ron OshimaMilwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra
Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra is a full symphony comprised primarily of advanced high school musicians.
Orchestra Students (2019-10-22)Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra
Philharmonia is a full symphony orchestra in which musicians often perform their first professional orchestral repertoire.
String Orchestras
Among MYSO's offerrings are an intermediate-level string orchestra, four string training orchestras which rehearse at regional sites around the Milwaukee area, and a beginning string ensemble. Pictured at right is Sinfonia, a large intermediate-level string orchestra which becomes a full symphony orchestra in the spring with the addition of woodwinds, brass and percussion.
String Orchestra North & Central in rehearsal (2019-05-18) by Ron OshimaMilwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra
String Orchestras, of which there are four regional ensembles, practice at four locations around Milwaukee.
Prelude String Players in Concert (2019-05-18) by Ron OshimaMilwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra
Prelude Orchestra introduces the concepts of orchestral string playing. It is tailored to elementary and early middle school students.
Progressions Violists (2019-05-16) by Ron OshimaMilwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra
Progressions is an immersive two-year string training program for third and fourth grade children who live in or attend school in the City of Milwaukee.
Flute Choirs
MYSO offers two levels of flute choirs: the Chamber Flute Ensemble and Flute Chorale.
MYSO Flute Duo - Flute Choir Music Director Julia Richter and Flutist Shreya (2020-04)Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra
Shreya and her Chamber Flute Ensemble director Julia Richter play a little of Mendelssohn's Scherzo from A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Wind Ensemble
This intermediate-level wind ensemble consists of woodwind, brass, and percussion players who are in middle school and early high school.
Wind Ensemble Brass Players (2019-05-18) by Ron OshimaMilwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra
Wind Ensemble horn section.
Brass Choirs
Composed of members of the brass sections of the Senior Symphony and the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, the Brass Choirs perform a wide range of brass ensemble literature.
Percussion Ensemble
MYSO’s percussionists are challenged to prepare eclectic, imaginative, and innovative literature written for percussion ensemble in various styles, including ethno-music, traditional, and jazz, as well as Blue Man Group and Stomp literature.
Non-Traditional Instruments
Bucket drumming has been developed as a summer program with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee for kids who have little to no musical background.
