by Michelle Hoffman This summer, MYSO alum Lauren Roznowski joined the MYSO artistic team as music director of Sinfonia, following the retirement of Steven Rindt. Lauren spent seven years in MYSO including three in the Senior Symphony. She talks about the impact MYSO had on her as a young person, including her time in Sinfonia,
by Ron Oshima Steven Rindt, music director of Sinfonia, retired in June 2021 after 36 official years with MYSO in various teaching and coaching roles. Steven was also a member of Music for Youth (renamed MYSO in the mid-1980s) in high school and volunteered as a coach for summer camps before his official hire, so
John Downey served as Director of Music Theory and Composition for Music For Youth/MYSO for more than 40 years, and was an important and beloved member of the MYSO family until his passing in 2004. A Distinguished Professor of Music at UW-Milwaukee, he was an internationally-renowned composer who collaborated with the great artists of his
by Ron Oshima Armarion Julien, assistant principal violist of the Senior Symphony this past year (and co-principal of the split orchestra) was influenced in his musical path by his dad, but in typical Armarion fashion, subject to his own interpretation. His father plays the electric bass in a soul, R&B, and jazz band, but is
by Michelle Hoffman Graduating senior and Wind Ensemble/Jazz Studies saxophonist Mia Traverse is taking her next step this fall at Butler University in Indianapolis, majoring in music education. Her journey into music began as a young child, plunking the keys of her grandparents’ piano, just having fun experimenting with different sounds. When given the chance
Owne Xayboury is a junior at Rufus King International High School. He studies with violist Jackie Baker at the Falls Baptist Music School. Initially having started on violin, Owne switched to viola as his primary instrument. He is a dedicated violist, receiving multiple scholarships, such as the Janet Fleming Ruggeri Scholarship, and learning opportunities with
Cordelia Zahner is an eighth grader at Wittenberg Academy, an online school. She loves history, reading, writing, and music. Cordelia has taken violin lessons from Lisa Kitzke since age five, and this is her first year in MYSO. Cordelia lives out in the country near Mayville, Wisconsin, in a busy house filled with her fun,
Max Letellier is a sophomore at New Berlin Eisenhower High School. He began taking lessons on piano when he was five, and violin when he was ten. In addition, he plays clarinet in his high school band. This is his third year in MYSO, where he is currently a violinist in the Metropolitan Orchestra. Max
Mia Traverse is a senior at Sussex-Hamilton High School and has played in MYSO’s Wind Ensemble for three years. She has been playing alto saxophone, her primary instrument, for eight years and studies with her private lesson teacher and band director, Jon Waite, in both classical and jazz music. In her free time, she enjoys
