A Century of the Madison Symphony Orchestra

From Community Roots to National Acclaim--A Century of the Madison Symphony Orchestra.

A Century of the Madison Symphony Orchestra details and celebrates the history of the MSO: from its beginnings in 1926, as the Madison Civic Symphony, a largely volunteer community ensemble, to the fully professional ensemble that exists today, one of America’s finest regional orchestras. It also deals with the histories of two groups closely intertwined with the MSO, the Madison Symphony Chorus and the Madison Opera. Remarkably, the orchestra has had only four music directors in the past century--Sigfrid Prager, Walter Heermann, Roland Johnson, and John DeMain--and each of them are the subject of a biographical chapter here.

Dr. J. Michael Allsen is an emeritus professor of music at UW Whitewater, where he taught music history, world music, and integrated arts courses. He has been associated with MSO in various ways since 1983, most prominently as a member of the trombone section from 1983 to 2018. He has written the orchestra’s program notes since 1984, and provides program and liner notes for many other orchestras, festivals, and artists around the country.