music builds a community
Our community’s need for youth music education — for the essential life skills that it develops in students — has never been greater.
Many students don’t have music programs in their schools because of budget constraints. And they can’t afford private programs. They rely on us for experience that fosters socialization, teamwork, empathy, leadership, and resilience.
MYSO responds with Community Partnership Programs – which target students from Milwaukee, students of color, and students who otherwise lack access to music education because of financial and other barriers.
The programs offer youths financial aid that can support 90% of their membership fees and services such as instruments, lessons, and transportation.
Community Partnership Programs – marking their 20th anniversary in 2023 – provide education in various musical genres, including strings, jazz, steel-pans, and bucket-drumming.
We also reach students in need by offering 25 concerts that 5,000 schoolchildren attend — for free — each year.
At a Glance
SPRINGBOARDS TO SUCCESS
Two programs position students to reach our advanced ensembles — and to thrive afterward. Progressions provides two years of intensive string training for Milwaukee third- and fourth-graders. Prelude Wind Ensemble provides two years of woodwinds, brass, and percussion training for Milwaukee fifth- and sixth-graders.
Free Community Concerts
We offer our free Community Concert Series at our home, the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, and Milwaukee-area schools. Many of the students who attend are seeing their first concert.
Boys & Girls Clubs
Full Club Assemblies introduce youths to jazz, steel-pan, hip-hop, and classical music, as well as summer steel-pan and bucket-drumming instruction.
MYSO Scholars
This beginning string program serves children in third to fifth grade at Hawthorne Elementary School, a Latino public school in Waukesha.
Latino Arts Strings Program
This program offers nearly 30 free concert performances annually to more than 5,000 area children, engaging them in a peer-to-peer performance by a MYSO ensemble. These concerts include an educational component, teaching student audiences about the featured ensemble’s instrumentation, composers, and history of music.