AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL: PATRIOTIC POPS
Friday, May 22, 2026 at 7:30 pm
Saturday, May 23, 2026 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, May 24, 2026 at 2:30 pm
ALLEN-BRADLEY HALL
Byron Stripling, conductor
Mamie Parris, vocalist
GEORGE M. COHAN/arr. Jeff Tyzik
Give My Regards to George
TRADITIONAL/arr. John Clayton Shenandoah
EDWIN EUGENE BAGLEY
National Emblem March
FERDINAND JOSEPH “JELLY ROLL MORTON” LAMOTHE/arr. Jeff Tyzik Black Bottom Stomp
LEW BROWN, GEORGE DESYLVA, AND RAY HENDERSON/arr. George Rhodes/ orch. Morton Stevens/ed. Rob DuBoff and Jeffrey Sultanof The Birth of the Blues
IRVING CAESAR AND VINCENT YOUMANS/arr. Larry Cook I Want to Be Happy
JOHN NEWTON/arr. Hank Marr/orch. Vaughn Wiester Amazing Grace
IRVING BERLIN/arr. Richard Hayman
God Bless America
INTERMISSION
JOHN PHILIP SOUSA
Stars and Stripes Forever
IRVING BERLIN/arr. William Grimes
Puttin’ On the Ritz
GEORGE GERSHWIN AND IRA GERSHWIN/arr. William Grimes
The Man I Love
ROBERT MERRILL AND JULE STYNE/arr. Larry Moore
Don’t Rain on My Parade
KENNETH J. ALFORD/ed. Clark McAlister
Colonel Bogey March
KATHARINE LEE BATES AND SAMUEL AUGUSTUS WARD/arr. Jeff Tyzik
America the Beautiful
ROBERT THIELE AND GEORGE DAVID WEISS/arr. Emmanuel Albam
What a Wonderful World
This weekend’s media sponsor is WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO.
The length of this concert is approximately 2 hours. All programs are subject to change. The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra can be heard on the Naxos, Telarc, Koss Classics, ProArte, AVIE, and Vox/Turnabout labels. MSO Classics recordings are available for digital streaming and download on Spotify, Apple Music, and more.
Guest Artist Biographies
MAMIE PARRIS
Mamie Parris has developed a diverse and unique body of work throughout her extensive career. In addition to appearances with symphony orchestras across the continent, including the Rochester Philharmonic, Columbus Jazz Orchestra, and the Fort Worth, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Milwaukee, and St. Louis symphony orchestras, her one-woman cabaret, Surrender: An Andrew Lloyd Webber Thrill Ride, was awarded the Best of the City by Time Out New York. Best known on Broadway for her one-of-a-kind rendition of the iconic “Memory,” she is no stranger to the work of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, having starred as Grizabella in the Broadway revival of Cats, as Rosalie (closing cast) and Patty (opening cast) in Broadway’s School of Rock, and in the U.S. premiere of the Lloyd Webber retrospective Unmasked Other Broadway appearances include the Tony-nominated revivals of Ragtime, 110 in the Shade, and On the Twentieth Century, as well as the Tony-winning musical The Drowsy Chaperone
Her film and television credits include The Blacklist, State of Affairs, A Stand Up Guy, and Great Performances: Celebrating 50 Years of Broadway’s Best on PBS. Across the country, she appeared as Elphaba in the first national tour of fan-favorite Wicked and performed with the touring companies of Legally Blonde and Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5: The Musical. Originally trained as a coloratura soprano, today she is considered one of Broadway’s preeminent belters, employing her versatile technique to create nuanced performances of even the best-known scores and songs. Her credits include roles at the Goodspeed Opera House, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, Old Globe, St. Louis Municipal Opera Theatre, Macau International Music Festival, and more. A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Mamie attended the Paseo Academy of the Arts in Kansas City, Missouri, and the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City.
2025.26 SEASON
KEN-DAVID MASUR
Music Director
Polly and Bill Van Dyke Music Director Chair
EDO DE WAART
Music Director Laureate
BYRON STRIPLING
Principal Pops Conductor
Stein Family Foundation
Principal Pops Conductor Chair
RYAN TANI
Associate Conductor
CHERYL FRAZES HILL
Chorus Director
Margaret Hawkins Chorus Director Chair
TIMOTHY J. BENSON
Assistant Chorus Director
FIRST VIOLINS
Jinwoo Lee, Concertmaster, Charles and Marie Caestecker Concertmaster Chair
Ilana Setapen, First Associate Concertmaster, Thora M. Vervoren
First Associate Concertmaster Chair
Jeanyi Kim, Associate Concertmaster
Alexander Ayers
Autumn Chodorowski
Yuka Kadota
Elliot Lee
Dylana Leung
Kyung Ah Oh
Lijia Phang
Vinícius Sant’Ana**
Yuanhui Fiona Zheng
SECOND VIOLINS
Jennifer Startt, Principal, Andrea and Woodrow Leung Principal Second Violin Chair
Ji-Yeon Lee, Assistant Principal (2nd chair)
Hyewon Kim, Acting Assistant Principal (3rd chair)
Heejeon Ahn
Lisa Johnson Fuller
Clay Hancock
Paul Hauer
Sheena Lan**
Janis Sakai**
Yiran Yao
VIOLAS
Victor de Almeida, Principal, Richard O. and Judith A. Wagner Family Principal Viola Chair
Samantha Rodriguez, Acting Assistant Principal (2nd chair), Friends of Janet F. Ruggeri Assistant Principal Viola Chair
Alejandro Duque, Acting Assistant Principal (3rd chair)
Elizabeth Breslin
Georgi Dimitrov
Nathan Hackett
Michael Lieberman**
Erin H. Pipal
CELLOS
Susan Babini, Principal, Dorothea C. Mayer Principal Cello Chair
Shinae Ra, Assistant Principal (2nd chair)
Scott Tisdel, Associate Principal Emeritus
Madeleine Kabat
Peter Szczepanek
Peter J. Thomas
Adrien Zitoun
BASSES
Principal, Donald B. Abert Principal Bass Chair
Andrew Raciti, Acting Principal
Nash Tomey, Acting Assistant Principal (2nd chair)
Brittany Conrad
Broner McCoy
Paris Myers
HARP
Julia Coronelli, Principal, Walter Schroeder Principal Harp Chair
FLUTES
Sonora Slocum, Principal, Margaret and Roy Butter Principal Flute Chair
Heather Zinninger, Assistant Principal
Jennifer Bouton Schaub
PICCOLO
Jennifer Bouton Schaub
OBOES
Katherine Young Steele, Principal, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra League Principal Oboe Chair
Kevin Pearl, Assistant Principal
Margaret Butler
ENGLISH HORN
Margaret Butler, Philip and Beatrice Blank English Horn Chair in memoriam to John Martin
CLARINETS
Todd Levy, Principal, Franklyn Esenberg Principal Clarinet Chair
Jay Shankar, Assistant Principal, Donald and Ruth P. Taylor Assistant Principal Clarinet Chair
Besnik Abrashi
E-FLAT CLARINET
Jay Shankar
BASS CLARINET
Besnik Abrashi
BASSOONS
Catherine Van Handel, Principal, Muriel C. and John D. Silbar Family Principal Bassoon Chair*
Rudi Heinrich, Acting Principal
Matthew Melillo
CONTRABASSOON
Matthew Melillo
HORNS
Matthew Annin, Principal, Krause Family Principal
French Horn Chair
Krystof Pipal, Associate Principal
Dietrich Hemann, Andy Nunemaker French Horn Chair
Darcy Hamlin
Dawson Hartman
TRUMPETS
Matthew Ernst, Principal, Walter L. Robb Family Principal Trumpet Chair
David Cohen, Associate Principal, Martin J. Krebs Associate Principal Trumpet Chair
Tim McCarthy, Fred Fuller Trumpet Chair
TROMBONES
Megumi Kanda, Principal, Marjorie Tiefenthaler Principal Trombone Chair
Kirk Ferguson, Assistant Principal
BASS TROMBONE
John Thevenet, Richard M. Kimball Bass Trombone Chair
TUBA
Robyn Black, Principal, John and Judith Simonitsch Principal Tuba Chair
TIMPANI
Dean Borghesani, Principal
Chris Riggs, Assistant Principal
PERCUSSION
Robert Klieger, Principal
Chris Riggs
PIANO
Melitta S. Pick Endowed Piano Chair
PERSONNEL
Antonio Padilla Denis, Director of Orchestra Personnel
Paris Myers, Assistant Manager of Orchestra Personnel
LIBRARIANS
Paul Beck, Principal Librarian, James E. Van Ess Principal Librarian Chair
Matthew Geise, Assistant Librarian & Media Archivist
PRODUCTION
Tristan Wallace, Production Manager/Live Audio
Lisa Sottile, Production Stage Manager
* Leave of absence during the 2025.26 season
** Acting member of the MSO for the 2025.26 season
