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Performance Pioneers The host of a landmark residency, MYSO is at the leading edge of youth music education nationwide.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF ROOST MKE
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he Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra is a musical force. The largest after-school youth orchestra in the country, MYSO brings 1,000 students the joy of music education every year. In 2025, the organization distributed over $630,000 in financial aid to make that education accessible to everyone. And it’s been a remarkable year for MYSO. January marked the end of the orchestra’s fivemonth Violins of Hope-Wisconsin residency, which brought violins owned and played by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust to Milwaukee for over 80 performances with dozens of partner organizations. Now the Senior Symphony Founders Concert on Feb. 21 will mark the first time the orchestra plays together since that monumental effort, and MYSO will continue to demonstrate its musical range with the Jazz Heritage Festival Feb. 25, 26 and 28, celebrating the organization’s excellence in both symphonic and jazz traditions. Vera LeFort is a junior at Reagan High School and a student ambassador of MYSO. LeFort has been playing the violin since she was 4, and she now tells
See a MYSO Show! Senior Symphony Founders Concert FEB. 21 Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts
Jazz Heritage Festival FEB. 25-26, 28 Milwaukee Youth Arts Center Learn more and find tickets at myso.org.
other students about the amazing experiences she’s had with the orchestra. “I’ve always resonated with the idea that music can bring people together and that it can really be a way to build bridges across language barriers and class barriers,” LeFort says. Playing one of the Holocaust-era violins MYSO brought to Milwaukee through Violins of Hope marked a highlight in LeFort’s performance career. “Realizing what people in the past have struggled with and the oppression that they’ve endured really brings to light that hope isn’t just a momentary feeling. The legacy of that hope can live on, and it takes people who care about it to spread that message,” LeFort says. Shana Baldassi, MYSO’s marketing director, says that the community has come together in unprecedented ways to spread a message of hope beyond the concert hall and the residency’s five months in Milwaukee. “MYSO’s mission brings hope year-round,” she says. “We bring hope through music, hope through education.” “Being a part of MYSO has always been a great experience for me,” LeFort says. “I get to meet people from all across the state, and I’m always challenged to keep learning.” ◆ F E BRUARY 2 0 26 | 92