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 currently serving in his 24th year as Director of Orchestras at Homestead High School in Mequon, where he has also taught AP Music Theory, and in his 29th year teaching high school orchestra.
Active as an orchestral violinist and violist, Mr. Emanuelson has performed with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra 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 arts administrator, educator, conductor, and trombonist.
Currently the Executive Director of the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra, he has held positions 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 and the Racine Symphony Orchestra. He also served as Vice President of Community Engagement for the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
In addition to more than two decades as an arts administrator, he has extensive conducting and trombone performance credits, including currently serving as the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra’s Assistant and Cover Conductor for the annual Nutcracker productions, and Co-Director of the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra’s (MYSO) Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Winkle was Music Director of the Carthage College Chamber Orchestra, Music Director of the University of North Texas Brass & Percussion Ensemble, and Founding Artistic Director of Cathedral Brass.
He performed regularly as a substitute/extra musician with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, performed with Present Music for 20 years, and has held tenor trombone and bass trombone positions with numerous orchestras and wind ensembles in Wisconsin, Colorado, Tennessee, and Texas. He was a member of the East Side Jazz Orchestra in Dallas-Fort Worth, Music Director of the Starliner Big Band, and performed regularly with the Albuquerque Jazz Orchestra. Mr. Winkle has also performed for many of the national touring Broadway productions as part of the Marcus Performing Arts Center series over the past 29 years. He currently serves as the local music contractor for Broadway Across America.
Mr. Winkle was the Manager of the Edwards Instrument Co., a division of the Getzen Company, where he participated directly in instrument design, and worked intensively with members of the New York Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin Radio Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, and many others.
Mr. Winkle currently serves as the President of the Board of Directors for the Association of Wisconsin Symphony Orchestras (AWSO). Previously, he has served on the board’s of the International Trombone Association, Historic Tennessee Theatre Foundation, Arts Wisconsin, Present Music, Civic Music Association of Milwaukee, and Kenosha Symphony Orchestra.