The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra had the night off May 15.
Milwaukeeans filled the Bradley Symphony Center with music anyway.
From a high school drum line to classically trained pianist and guitarist; a drag performer to an acoustic Celtic and blues music duo, the MSO’s free Milwaukee Musician Showcase on May 15 featured a range of musical styles.
I caught the nearly three hour showcase (intermission included) for the Journal Sentinel’s Local Beat column.
Created following discussions with the MSO’s Community Council, the Milwaukee Musician Showcase is a new effort to promote local artists that might be beyond the MSO’s purview, and in turn potentially reach new audiences.
It’s a good idea. The $90 million Bradley Symphony Center – formerly the Warner Grand Theatre – is among the most beautiful and acoustically sublime venues in a city blessed with many of them. An opportunity to experience its splendor for free, and to simultaneously be exposed to homegrown talent, is a gift. And as an attempt to expand the MSO’s community reach, and offer a grand stage to artists who’d never fathom this sort of invitation, this inaugural showcase was a strong first step.
It didn’t take long for the showcase to shake off symphony concert stereotypes — even if the first of 10 acts May 15 wasn’t new to the MSO stage.
Eleven members of the Carmen High School of Science and Technology’s Northwest Thundering Eagles Drumline, who performed at the Symphony Center two years ago, brought rhythm and energy to the first songs of the evening.
From there, the program returned to something perhaps more expected for this space, courtesy of the classical piano stylings of David Jensen. But the amateur pianist brought gentle elegance to his interpretations of compositions from Maurice Ravel and Clara Schumann. The quiet, captivating sentiment of Jensen’s appearance was also a primary attribute of Miles McConnel’s performance. First playing classical guitar when he was five, McConnel’s musicianship was soft in tone but assertive in technique, a lifetime of mastery evident in a medley of music adapted for his instrument from Verdi’s classic opera “La Traviata.”
Of the 10 acts that performed May 15, five of them were orchestras, but the showcase still served the mission, shining a spotlight on local musicians potentially unfamiliar to the MSO faithful. From college-age string instrumentalists at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, to the performers from the all-volunteer Milwaukee Community String Orchestra and Concord Chamber Ensemble, these artists — bringing majesty to compositions from the likes of Erik Satie and Jean Sibelius — earned their place on one of the city’s most prestigious stages, proving lesser-known ensembles in Milwaukee are blessed with top-tier talent.
The showcase also featured what was billed as the one and only scheduled performance of the Black String Triage Ensemble. Led by Dayvin Hallmon, the group, originating in 2019, performs outside of crime scenes in the aftermath of a shooting, with Hallmon in a 2019 Journal Sentinel interview likening their performances to “ministry work for the soul of Milwaukee.”
Hallmon invited great thought and contemplation with stirring selections for this rare occasion, leading the ensemble through “Frederick Douglass Funeral March” by Nathaniel Clark Smith and a somber rendition of Nina Simone’s “Why? (The King of Love is Dead),” written by her bassist Gene Taylor three days after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
After the ensemble offered the evening’s penultimate set, Hallmon continued conducting duty for the last act of the night, the Black Diaspora Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra is devoted to Black and Latin composers, grossly underrepresented in orchestral performances, with this showcase offering extra rare, and rewarding, performances. Those included “Exodus from Extinction” from Wisconsin-based composer Autumn Maria Reed, and also a 131-year-old opera overture from Harry Lawrence Freeman that was never recorded.
Hallmon’s groups especially ensured a unique night for any MSO subscribers in the audience. But the program also branched away from classical music, including a performance from couple John Jack and Susan Nicholson from long running fiddle-and-guitar duo Frogwater. During their original Irish slip jig song “Opal’s Runaround,” written when their daughter was three (she just graduated from college last weekend, Susan informed the crowd to applause), a couple of strangers even met in the aisle and danced together.
And one of the MSO’s box office employees, Rora Sanders, performing as their drag persona Bella Del Mar. Del Mar brought drama, a pinch of flute, and stirring vocals to renditions of Billy Idol’s “Eyes Without a Face” and Moody Blues “Nights in White Satin,” the latter sweetly dedicated to their father who inspired their love of music.
Del Mar and Frogwater showed that should the showcase return — and it definitely should — that the horizons should expand. By all means, keep the new classical musicians coming, but let’s see local rockers, singer-songwriters, rappers, electronic artists and others keep them company. The Bradley Symphony Center was beautifully built for music — and our city is blessed with so many talented musicians worthy of that stage.
Local Beat is a recurring column in the Journal Sentinel and jsonline.com covering Milwaukee artists in concert. Who should we check out next? Send your suggestions to plevy@journalsentinel.com or find him on Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Symphony open doors for first Milwaukee Musician Showcase
Reporting by Piet Levy, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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