Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra
High-Level Classical Performances
The Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra is a full symphony orchestra program that teaches and challenges student musicians to perform works composed in the late Classical through Romantic and Modern eras.
Building on successes in other MYSO ensembles, Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra musicians refine the skills required for participation in the Senior Symphony and Chamber Orchestra.
At a Glance
- 100 musicians
- Rehearsals generally on Monday evenings
- Comprised primarily of advanced high school musicians
- Music Directors: Mr. John Emanuelson and Mr. Jonathan Winkle
Upcoming Events
The Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra Staff
John Emanuelson
Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra Music Director
Jonathan Winkle
Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra Music Director
John Emanuelson
Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra Music Director John Emanuelson was honored as “Music Teacher of the Year” by the Civic Music Association of Milwaukee. He also received the Outstanding Educator Award from the Mequon-Thiensville School District, the MT Education Foundation Excellence in Teaching Award, and is a Herb Kohl Foundation Excellence in Teaching Kohl Fellowship recipient. He is presently serving in his 21st year as Director of Orchestras at Homestead High School in Mequon, where he has also taught AP Music Theory.
Active as an orchestral violinist and violist, Mr. Emanuelson has performed with the Milwaukee Symphony and is a frequent member of the Kenosha and Festival City Symphony Orchestras. He has served as the First Violin Section Coach for the WSMA All-State Honors Orchestra. He is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder and Lawrence University. He studied violin with Oswald Lehnert, Pasquale Laurino, and Patricia Anders. At CU, Mr. Emanuelson was a Suzuki Pedagogy student of William Starr and studied Baroque performance practices with Elizabeth Farr, performing in the CU Early Music Ensemble. He has studied conducting with Richard Hynson.
Growing up in the Milwaukee area in the 1980s, Mr. Emanuelson participated in the MYSO program (then MFY), starting in sixth grade as a violinist and string bassist. He also studied music theory with Dr. John Downey.
He is thrilled and honored to be a part of the conducting faculty of MYSO and is excited to share his knowledge of and passion for orchestra music with the talented student musicians of the Metropolitan Symphony.
Jonathan Winkle
Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra Music Director Jonathan Winkle is an accomplished educator, performer, and arts administrator. Mr. Winkle is currently Director of the Jazz Ensemble at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He was formerly Music Director and Conductor for the Carthage College Orchestra and has taught conducting, music education courses, and applied brass at UW-Milwaukee, UW-Parkside, Carroll University, and Carthage College. He was the Music Director and Conductor of the Brass and Percussion Ensemble at the University of North Texas during his doctoral studies. He has proudly served as a coach, adjudicator, and guest conductor for the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra ensembles for more than 30 years.
In addition to having performed regularly as a substitute/extra musician with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, he performed with Present Music for 20 years, and has held tenor trombone and bass trombone positions with the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, Breckenridge Chamber Orchestra, Waco Symphony Orchestra, Los Colinas-Garland Symphony Orchestra, East Texas Symphony Orchestra, Waukesha Symphony Orchestra, Music Under the Stars, Kenosha Symphony Orchestra, Racine Symphony Orchestra, and Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra. He was a member of the East Side Jazz Orchestra in Dallas-Fort Worth, Director of the Starliner Big Band, and performed regularly with the Albuquerque Jazz Orchestra. In addition, he has performed for many of the touring Broadway productions as part of the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts’ Broadway Across America series.
As an arts administrator, Mr. Winkle served as Executive & Artistic Director of Performance Santa Fe, President & CEO of the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts, and Executive Director for the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he has served as Vice President of Community Engagement for the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Winkle currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Association of Wisconsin Symphony Orchestras and the Civic Music Association of Milwaukee. Previously, he has served on the Boards of the International Trombone Association, Historic Tennessee Theatre Foundation, Arts Wisconsin, and Kenosha Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Winkle is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Peck School of the Arts and Carthage College.