RIPON COLLEGE TO HOST MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA IN FREE, PUBLIC CONCERT SEPT. 20

52nd annual on-campus performance offers the campus community a rare, no-cost opportunity to hear the renowned orchestra

Ripon College is excited to host the 52nd annual on-campus performance of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra on Sunday, Sept. 20, at 3:15 p.m. in the Field House at the Willmore Center. The concert is free and open to the public, a rare opportunity for concertgoers to hear a major professional orchestra without leaving the region or paying for tickets.

This year’s complimentary concert will be conducted by Associate Conductor Ryan Tani and will feature selections by Fanny Hensel, Franz Schubert, William Grant Still and Ludwig van Beethoven. The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra is Wisconsin’s largest cultural institution and one of the nation’s leading orchestras. Since its founding in 1959, the MSO has grown into a full-time professional ensemble that performs more than 130 classics, pops, family, education and community concerts annually in venues across the state.

The performance is presented by the Caestecker Fine Arts Series Endowment and the first family of Ripon College, President Victoria N. Folse and Dick Folse, whose continued support has made this longstanding campus tradition possible.

“Dick and I are honored to once again welcome the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra to campus. This concert is one of the clearest expressions of what Ripon College is about: opening our doors and sharing something extraordinary with the campus community,” said President Victoria N. Folse.

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s visit to Ripon College has grown into one of the region’s most anticipated fall traditions, bringing world-class orchestral music directly to the community at no charge.

“The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s relationship with Ripon College is one of our longest and most meaningful traditions. Returning for a 52nd performance is a wonderful opportunity to share live orchestral music beyond Milwaukee and welcome audiences from throughout the region. We are especially grateful to Ripon College for making this concert free and accessible to everyone,” said MSO President and Executive Director Mark Niehaus.

EVENT DETAILS

• What: 52nd Annual Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra — Complimentary Concert
• When: 3:15 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 20
• Where: Field House, Willmore Center, Ripon College
• Cost: Free and open to the public

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

This year’s program spans nearly two centuries of orchestral music, from the Romantic era through the 20th century. It includes a work by Fanny Hensel, a 19th-century German composer and pianist whose orchestral and chamber music has drawn renewed attention in recent decades after long being overshadowed by that of her brother, Felix Mendelssohn; a piece by Franz Schubert, the Austrian composer celebrated for his melodic gift and his contributions to the symphonic and chamber repertoire; a selection from William Grant Still, an American composer often called the “dean of African American composers” and the first Black composer to have a symphony performed by a major American orchestra; and a work by Ludwig van Beethoven, whose symphonies remain cornerstones of the orchestral canon.

ABOUT THE CONDUCTOR

Ryan Tani is the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s associate conductor, having been promoted from assistant conductor after joining the organization in 2023. He conducts a wide range of MSO performances, including classics, pops, family and education concerts. He has also served as cover conductor for the Minnesota Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Colorado Symphony, among others.

A committed advocate for new music, Tani previously served as music director of Baltimore’s Occasional Symphony, where he commissioned more than 20 new works. He holds degrees from Yale University, the Peabody Institute and the University of Southern California, and has studied conducting with Marin Alsop, Peter Oundjian and Markand Thakar, among others.