One day, Nolan started to lose feeling in his feet. Then he had trouble standing, balancing, and walking.
He had a rare bone cyst on his spine, an MRI showed.
Nolan’s mother, Katie, says, “I passed the phone to Nolan, and he talked to the neurologist. And I remember . . . the look on his face, just going, ‘Why me?’” Although it was a relief to know what was wrong, Nolan says, “Still, it was like, ‘What happens now?’”
Nolan needed two serious operations to remove the cyst. Today, he is fully recovered; he is 16, a high-school junior, and a member of MYSO’s Metropolitan Symphony. Nolan and his family credit MYSO and music for his mental and physical recovery — for motivating him to re-train his arm muscles after the operations, so he could hold and play the violin that means so much to him.
“I can just be myself playing my violin,” Nolan says. “I don’t have to worry about anything. The only thing I have to worry about is turning the page (his sheet music) in time. It’s really nice to just have this thing you do that allows you to be yourself. I’m lucky that I have it.”
Nolan Gabor wanted a two-part name for his violin and his bow. He thought about it, and then “I got it!” he recalls, snapping his fingers. “Rocky Rococo. That’s perfect. The best pizza joint in the state. Rococo – that’s the violin. Together, Rocky and Rococo!”
Nolan’s been delivering Rocky Rococo to MYSO for four years – progressing through our ensembles. He started in 2022 with String Orchestra South, one of four string training orchestras (also including Central, North, and West) for students in late elementary and middle school. The four rehearse around the Milwaukee area and merge into two orchestras for concerts.
The next year, 2023-24, Nolan played in Sinfonia, a large intermediate string orchestra for musicians in middle and early high school. In the spring, select woodwind and percussion players from the Wind Ensemble join the group to form Sinfonia Philharmonic, playing symphony orchestra music. Nolan advanced to Philharmonia in 2024-25, playing with other middle- and high-school musicians. This symphony orchestra gives many of our students their first chance to perform professional orchestra music and challenging original music.
This season, 2025-26, Nolan’s in Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra for advanced high-school musicians, performing music since the late Classical Era. This orchestra prepares musicians for Senior Symphony, our flagship orchestra, and Chamber Orchestra.
Please see yourself in hope – and support students like Nolan as they advance and thrive in MYSO.
