As Chief Executive Officer of Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra (MYSO), Linda Edelstein provides strategic leadership across all facets of the organization, including strategic planning, board recruitment and engagement, donor cultivation and fundraising, financial and managerial controls, and human resources. Ms. Edelstein leads a team of more than 75 full and part-time administrative and artistic staff, managing a budget of $4.5 million with endowment and reserves of $12 million. Under her leadership, MYSO serves more than 7,000 students from 14 counties, 90 zip codes, and more than 200 schools across southeastern Wisconsin, presenting more than 150 concerts annually to 30,000 audience members.

She also serves as Vice President of the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center (MYAC). Together with the Executive Artistic Director of First Stage and the MYAC Board of Directors, Ms. Edelstein provides administrative leadership for the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, including budget oversight, fundraising, personnel, security, scheduling, and public relations.

During the three-year planning process and five-month residency of Violins of Hope – Wisconsin, exclusively presented by MYSO, from September 2025 through January 2026, Ms. Edelstein served as the principal strategist who designed and coordinated a multifaceted community initiative spanning more than 65 diverse organizations and reaching more than 37,000 people across Wisconsin. She orchestrated partnerships with a broad spectrum of community, arts, and cultural organizations, as well as schools, universities, and faith-based institutions, connecting people from all walks of life.

At a time of rising antisemitism and other forms of hate, Ms. Edelstein led MYSO in weaving a tapestry of understanding through the power of art, conversation, and experience. Through educational and cultural programs and exhibits, she brought communities a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear the stories of instruments owned and played by Jewish musicians and others targeted by the Nazis during the Holocaust. This residency honored the voices of the past, enlightened the present, and inspired the future, with lessons profoundly relevant for today.

Previously, Ms. Edelstein held numerous leadership positions at the United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF) from 2005-2012, including Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Marketing and Community Relations. As COO, she oversaw an annual budget of more than $10 million and fund allocations of more than $8.3 million, managing daily operations and serving as the liaison with UPAF member and affiliate organizations. She worked in concert with the UPAF President & CEO, community leaders, and the campaign cabinet to frame the annual campaign process and engage the community for the benefit of the arts. She was also responsible for oversight of the organization’s largest signature fundraising event, the UPAF Ride for the Arts, sponsored by Miller Lite.

Prior to UPAF, Ms. Edelstein served as Executive Director of the Waukesha Symphony Orchestra (now Wisconsin Philharmonic) for seven years, where she created the organization’s “Success Through Music” program that engaged children from diverse backgrounds to discover their potential through music education.

Ms. Edelstein holds an MBA from Marquette University, a Master of Music in Performance from Yale University, and a Bachelor of Music Performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She was an Irving S. Gilmore Fellow at Yale and regularly performed professionally throughout southeastern Wisconsin as an oboist and English hornist with Milwaukee’s finest organizations, including the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Ballet, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Skylight Opera Theatre, and Present Music, with numerous recordings on several labels.

Ms. Edelstein has served as a music faculty member at UW-Whitewater, UW-Oshkosh, Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, Hartland Music Center, and Yale University, among others. She has demonstrated a passion for and deep understanding of the mission of MYSO, having been an active member of the organization while in high school.

She currently serves on the board of directors for the Association of Wisconsin Symphony Orchestras and has previously served on the boards of the Youth Orchestra Division of the League of American Orchestras (holding leadership roles as Vice Chair and Secretary), Frankly Music, and as President of the Elmbrook Rotary Club (2017-18).

Ms. Edelstein was honored to receive the 2025 Arts Advocate Betty Award from Milwaukee Magazine for her commitment to the arts and its impact throughout the community.