Milwaukee Symphony search for music director continues next season

Doomed to roam the seas forever, the ghostly Flying Dutchman will come ashore in Milwaukee in 2019, hoping to find the love that will set him free.

The Milwaukee Symphony will perform Wagner's haunted "The Flying Dutchman" as part of its 2018-'19 classics season with giant video projections of the ghostly seaman by artist S. Katy Tucker. Music director laureate Edo de Waart will conduct the "Dutchman" concerts Jan. 11 and 13, 2019.

The symphony is striding toward next season in the midst of two big transitions. It continues to search for a music director to succeed de Waart, who stepped down from the post at the end of the 2016-'17 season. And it is planning and raising funds for its new concert home, the Warner Grand Theatre at 212 W. Wisconsin Ave. The orchestra plans to debut there in the fall of 2020.

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Bret Dorhout, the symphony's vice president of artistic planning and operations, planned the new season in conjunction with the guest conductors. Speaking of those guest conductors, any one of them could become the Milwaukee Symphony's next music director. Returning guest conductors from the current season include Karina Canellakis, Fabien Gabel, Jeffrey Kahane, Joshua Weilerstein and former associate conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong.

Notable works on the 2018-'19 classics season include Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" (Sept. 15-16), Saint-Saëns' "Organ Symphony" (Nov. 9-10), Tchaikovsky's "Pathetique" symphony (Jan. 26-27), Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Feb. 22-24), Brahms' German Requiem (March 29-30, 2019) and Orff's "Carmina burana" (June 21-23, 2019).

Once again the symphony will spotlight some of its leading orchestra musicians as soloists, including bassoonist Catherine Chen in Mozart's Bassoon Concerto (Oct. 19-20), concertmaster Frank Almond in both Bartok's "Two Portraits" and Ravel's "Tzigane" (Jan. 18-19), flutist Sonora Slocum in Reinecke's Flute Concerto (March 29-30, 2019) and clarinetist Todd Levy in Mozart's Clarinet Concerto (May 24-25, 2019).

The symphony has already announced its Pops programming for 2018-'19, including live performances of John Williams scores during screenings of "Jurassic Park" (Nov. 24-25) and "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" (July 5-7, 2019).

Related:'Star Wars,' 'Jurassic Park' top next Milwaukee Symphony Pops lineup

Unless otherwise noted, all performances take place at Marcus Center's Uihlein Hall, 929 N. Water St. For subscription and other info, call (414) 291-7605 or visit mso.org.

Sept. 15-16: Karina Canellakis, conductor; Boris Giltburg, piano; Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No. 2; Stravinsky, "The Rite of Spring";  Andrew Norman, U.S. premiere of a work to be determined. 

Sept. 21-22: Karina Canellakis, conductor; Sunwook Kim, piano; Brahms, Symphony No. 2; Dvořák, Piano Concerto; Lili Boulanger, "D’un soir triste." 

Sept. 28-29: Yaniv Dinur, conductor; Vadim Gluzman, violin; Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto; Shostakovich, Symphony No. 12; Menachem Wiesenberg, "Jerusalem."

Nov. 9-10: Johannes Debus, conductor; Louis Lortie, piano; Saint-Saëns, Symphony No. 3 (“Organ Symphony”); Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 27; Wagner, Prelude to "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg." 

Nov. 16-18: Jader Bignamini, conductor; Joshua Roman, cello; Respighi, "Pines of Rome"; Dvořák, Cello Concerto; Tchaikovsky, Capriccio Italien.

Jan. 11 and 13: Edo de Waart, conductor; Milwaukee Symphony Chorus, Cheryl Frazes Hill, director; Wagner, "The Flying Dutchman."

Jan. 18-19: Carlos Kalmar, conductor; Frank Almond, violin; Dvořák, Symphony No. 6; Strauss, "Don Juan"; Bartók, "Two Portraits"; Ravel, "Tzigane."

Jan. 26-27: Joshua Weilerstein, conductor; Orli Shaham, piano; Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 6 (“Pathetique”); Bartók, Piano Concerto No. 3; Still, Poem for Orchestra.

Feb. 8-9: Alexander Shelley, conductor; Blake Pouliot, violin; Mendelssohn, "Hebrides" Overture; Bruch, "Scottish Fantasy"; Walton, Symphony No. 1.

Feb. 22-24: Dima Slobodeniouk, conductor; Simon Trpćeski, piano; Rachmaninoff, "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini"; Prokofiev, Symphony No. 7; Prokofiev, Suite from "Love of Three Oranges."

March 29-30, 2019: Eun Sun Kim, conductor; Milwaukee Symphony Chorus, Cheryl Frazes Hill, director; Sonora Slocum, flute; Brahms, "A German Requiem"; Reinecke, "Flute Concerto."

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April 26-27, 2019: Edo de Waart, conductor; Mahler, Symphony No. 9.

May 24-25, 2019: Jeffrey Kahane, conductor; Todd Levy, clarinet; Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 14; Schubert, Symphony No. 8 (unfinished); Mozart, Clarinet Concerto; J.Strauss, Overture to "Fledermaus." 

June 7-8, 2019: Matthais Pintscher, conductor; Javier Perianes, piano; Debussy, "La Mer"; Dukas, "The Sorcerer’s Apprentice"; Scriabin, "The Poem of Ecstasy"; Saint-Saëns, Piano Concerto No. 5 (“The Egyptian”).

June 21-23, 2019: Francesco Lecce-Chong, conductor; Milwaukee Symphony Chorus, Cheryl Frazes Hill, director; Orff, "Carmina burana"; 
Adams, "Doctor Atomic Symphony."

June 28-29, 2019: Fabien Gabel, conductor; Simone Lamsma, violin; Mahler, Symphony No. 1; Mendelssohn, Violin Concerto.

BASILICA SERIES 

Oct. 19-20: Yaniv Dinur, conductor; Catherine Chen, bassoon; Mozart, Bassoon Concerto; Mozart, Symphony No. 29. Basilica of Saint Josaphat, 2333 S. 6th St.

Dec. 19-23: Christopher Seaman, conductor; Milwaukee Symphony Chorus, Cheryl Frazes Hill, director; Handel, "Messiah." Dec. 19 concert location will be announced later. The Dec. 20-23 performances will take place at the Basilica of Saint Josaphat.

March 15-17, 2019: Yaniv Dinur, conductor; Vivaldi, “Spring” from "The Four Seasons"; Kodaly, "Summer Evening"; Vivaldi, “Summer” from "The Four Seasons"; Vivaldi, “Autumn” from "The Four Seasons"; Wagner, "Siegfried Idyll"; Vivaldi, “Winter” from "The Four Seasons." Basilica of Saint Josaphat.

SYMPHONY'S BAY VIEW TAKEOVER

Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Symphony has just announced a Bay View residency in April as part of its Symphony in the Neighborhood program.

The symphony will play full orchestra and small ensemble concerts from April 6 through April 15 in many Bay View locations, including pop-up locations.

Highlights of the schedule include:

April 10: A free full-orchestra performance at 7 p.m. at Bay View High School. 2751 S. Lenox St.

April 14: A Secret Symphony concert of machine-inspired music at 7:30 p.m. at Milwaukee Blacksmith, 3073 S. Chase Ave., Building 24. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets: $5 (mso.org, 414-291-7605). 

For more info, including locations of pop-up performances, visit mso.org/neighborhood.