Madison Symphony Orchestra Celebrates 100 Years June 13-14: 100 Year Crescendo
Robert Reed, CEO of the Madison Symphony Orchestra (l) and Derrick Smith, co-chair of the MSO 100th Anniversary Steering Committee Not Pictured: Elaine Mischler, committee co-chair
by Jonathan Gramling
In some ways, it’s a credit to the board, staff and musicians of the Madison Symphony Orchestra that it still stands after 100 years.
“I think that it is amazing that we as an arts organization that is a non-profit has reached the 100th year anniversary,” said Robert Reed, the symphony’s CEO. “So many non-profit organizations when they are formed, some don’t make it past the first five years. Some don’t make it to 50 years. But here we are celebrating 100 years and we are looking forward to the next 100 years.”
And this is due to the intentionality of MSO.
“We are blessed to be an organization that is still in strong financial shape,” Reed said. “Even with extraordinary efforts to raise additional funds to mount various productions, we expect to still end this year in the positive. We have continued on with our record-breaking fundraising and getting people coming to concerts. So we’re in wonderful shape. We don’t take it for granted. Don’t think we’re just sitting here laughing and going to the bank. We know that every day we have to work to be able to maintain relationships. Every day, you have to be able to work to maintain people coming because people can change their minds. And so we have to constantly remind ourselves. We have to prove ourselves to this community so that they know that we are for them, especially those communities who may not traditionally attend the symphony. And so the symphony has received approval no matter what the audience may be. It is always our earnest goal to make sure that other communities too know that music is universal. It doesn’t matter what color, what race, no matter what age, music is universal and you can enjoy music no matter who you are.”
And so MSO has been intentional about opening up the music to everyone, that it is music that has touched everyone’s lives.
“I’ve been on the symphony board for six years,” said Derrick Smith who is the co-chair of MSO 100th Anniversary Steering Committee along with Elaine Mischler. “As Robert said, this is a unique town. It’s unique due to the fact that there is a tale of two cities. What Robert and John DeMain and the board have wanted to do is to open up the music to everyone. And so with that, we have At the Movies. We have one coming up Star Wars.
. And we had one with The Empire Strikes Back. These are things that we would have never done before. And so it’s a new type of look at how can the orchestra be exposed to everyone, to different types of kids, families, people of color, people not colored. I think we’re at the stage now that we are building on the first 100 years in order to work on the second 100.
As a matter of fact, my granddaughter is five-years-old and I plan on bringing her to see The Lion King. She has never seen an orchestra before.”
The celebration of the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s 100th Anniversary has been like a slowly building crescendo of music and the arts that began over a year ago.
“Part of the 100th Anniversary Steering Committee’s responsibility is determining how we are going to celebrate the 100th`anniversary was to break those chains and let us know that the celebration does not have to start with the 100th anniversary season,” Reed said. “So we have been doing things for the last few years leading up to the 100th anniversary season. Our first community concert we did was at Penn Park. That was one thing that was not done in the 100th anniversary season. It was done with the thought of leading up to the 100th anniversary. We played concerts in other communities. We played in East Madison, Waunakee and other areas. And so a lot of things have been leading up to the 100th anniversary season. And even after the 100th anniversary season is over, there are still things that could be celebrated. As Derrick mentioned, we are really looking towards the next 100 years. We’re looking to see the success that we’ve had for the first 100 years, how much more success can we have in the next 100 years. And so I don’t want it to be viewed that we are just thinking about this one year. We really have been leading up to this year and will be doing some things even after this year is over. And there are some things that we’ve done this year where we’ve gone, ‘Ooh, this was fun. We need to do this again.’ I would not say plan a whole 100th anniversary season all next year. But there are lots of things that we could definitely replicate and even improve upon that we have done this year.”
The finale to the 100th Anniversary Celebration is a two day extravaganza of the arts at the Overture Center on June 13-14. It’s not just about symphonic music. It’s about the broad array of the arts in Madison.
“I think that this festival that we are going to have is going to expose the Madison community to the great musicians that we have in the Dane County area,” Smith said. “And I think from that, people are going to say, ‘Oh, why wasn’t I a part of that?’ Or ‘I need to go see that.’ It’s going to be more of what I compare to throwing the stone into the water and it just ripples out. And I think that’s what we are looking for this to be. It’s a rippling effect of the Madison Symphony Orchestra. It’s just having a good time. With the economy the way it is, having something like this that is completely free is really unique. I must say that the board and Robert have really bent over backwards to make sure that happened.”
“It was so important that we wanted to make sure we celebrated it this year with not just having a party,” Reed added. “It’s very easy when you have an anniversary or celebration to say, ‘Let’s just throw a party.’ And we thought, ‘We don’t want to live 100 years just to throw a party. We want to make sure that we make a difference so that what is coming up at the conclusion of our 100th anniversary season with our centennial festival weekend. We are giving a gift back to the community. We are looking forward to reaching everyone in this area, no matter what their musical tastes are, no matter what their preference of art organizations are, no matter what their age and race. It doesn’t matter. We just want to let people know that we as one of the premier arts organizations in this area, we celebrate everyone. And we are a part of this community and we are looking forward to giving our gift to this community in June of 2026.”
On July 13-14, the Overture Center will be filled with the arts for 12-14 hours per day with not only the performing arts, but the visual arts as well.
“It starts on Saturday at 8:30 a.m., Smith said A”nd it goes to 10 p.m. that night. And it starts the same time on Sunday. We have the two concerts, which is a big concert with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Children’s Choir on Saturday and another full orchestra performance on Sunday. Every part of Overture from the Rotunda to the Children’s Theater to Overture Hall to the lobby, every spot is going to be utilized with some type of musical or spoken word event. We’ll have food carts that you can purchase food. Inside Overture, they will be selling their fares as well. We are starting it off with yoga. We’re going to have jazz. We’re going to have rock. We’re going to have folk. Of course we’re going to have the orchestra. We’re going to have three concerts, two adult concerts and one family concert. Again, these are all free.”
In some ways, the celebration will be a mini Summerfest with performances and activities happening simultaneously.
“You’ll have to make choices on what to see, but not everything is at the same time,” Reed said. “We’ll have multiple things taking place. You may have Promenade Lounge with something going on with Madison Opera while in the Overture Hall Lobby, you may have something going on. There will be usually two, sometimes three things going on at the same time. But it’s not as if you have all 40 acts performing at one time. If people are used to going to Jazz Fest or Brat Fest, they are used to having multiple stages going on at the same time. And we are going to be no different. We’re going to have multiple stages going on at the same time. One could easily say, ‘I’ll just go for 15 minutes of this’ and then move over to go see another group that is performing. And it’s not just performances as in musicians. There are different types of acts that are taking place. People will have the opportunity to experience that. I love that they can go to the farmer’s market on the Saturday and then come right over to Overture Hall.”
And the celebration is a family-friendly event.
“Whatever age kids they may have, if they have children with them, they can find something for them,” Reed emphasized. “Just come. Don’t be on the sidelines. Why wait to hear about this after it’s over. You need to experience it. The good part about it is we are not requiring you to spend two days with us. We are asking you to spend as much time enjoying the festival in those two days as you can. Come and experience it. If you have a favorite group, go to our website and look at the schedule. You can see what times the groups are performing. If you have a special love of a particular group that is performing, you know to be there at that time and location. And while you are there, go to the next one after the group has finished. But don’t be on the sidelines and wait to hear about this on Monday morning. You need to be a part of it.”
And the festival is geared to express the diversity of Madison.
“For the diverse community that we have here in Madison, this is a great opportunity to see something that you have not seen before, that you probably thought that it isn’t for us or my kids would not be involved,” Smith said. “But when you see your kids looking at these musicians playing these instruments, it’s just like lights out. I think this is an opportunity for you to expose them to something that is going to be positive for them and also for the community.”
MSO feels that you can’t miss an arts celebration that’s been 100 years in the making.
“There is no cost to you to be able to enjoy the arts,” Reed said. “There is no cost for you to just see what the symphony is all about. You don’t feel like you have to dress up. You don’t need to feel anything. You can just enjoy and experience the arts during those two days. And you can be part of our celebration of 100 years serving this Madison community. And we would be so excited to have you. And hopefully, you may enjoy it so much that you’ll want to come back for future seasons for other events that we do.”
Be a part of the crescendo of a celebration of the arts that will make Madison art history
As a community arts festival the MSO 100th Anniversary Celebration needs volunteers to make it work. People can volunteer by visiting www.madisonsymphony.org and signing up in the volunteer section.