The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra will perform at the Buttermilk Festival in Fond du Lac on Wednesday, June 29. It will be the MSO’s 22nd free Festival concert since the tradition began in 1992. The concert will begin at 7:15 p.m. at the Wifler Performance Center in Buttermilk Creek Park on South Park Avenue, and moved to the County Fairgrounds EXPO Building in the event of unsuitable weather.
The concert will include the overtures to Candide and West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein, selections from Frozen, and Star Wars Suite for Orchestra by John Williams. Music from south of the border will be represented with selections by Mexican composer Arturo Marques and Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla. Rounding out the program are patriotic favorites including America The Beautiful as arranged by Carmen Dragon, Armed Forces Salute, and marches by Alford and John Phillip Sousa.
The orchestra will be under the direction of Associate Conductor Yaniv Dinur. Born in Jerusalem in 1981, Dinur has studied conducting in Israel and America and has performed with orchestras in Israel, Europe, the United States, Canada and Mexico. In addition to his duties in Milwaukee, he is also Music Director of the New Bedford Symphony in Massachusetts.
Since its inception in 1959, Wisconsin’s own full-time symphony orchestra has found innovative ways to give music a home in the region, develop music appreciation and talent among area youth, and raise the national reputation of Milwaukee. The MSO’s full-time professional musicians perform more than 135 classics, pops, family, education, and community concerts each season in venues throughout the state. The MSO’s standard of excellence extends beyond the concert hall and into the community, reaching more than 40,000 children and their families through its Arts in Community Education (ACE) program, Youth and Teen concerts, Family Series, and Meet the Music pre-concert talks.
A food concession, serving sandwiches, snacks, soda and desserts will be available beginning at 6:00 p.m. hosted by the Fondy Jump Rope Team. The performance is funded through generous major sponsor and co-sponsor donations, contributions from Friends of the Festival and a free-will offering that will be received during the concert.
Next on the summer music calendar is the Fond du Lac Symphonic Band’s annual 4th of July Americana Concert, beginning at 7:30 p.m. at the Lakeside Park pavilion next to the bandstand. Fireworks begin at dusk following the concert. On Wednesday, July 6, the Mayville Steel Drum All-Stars will take the stage at Buttermilk Creek Park at 7:15 p.m.