MYSO is pleased to be able to present the Chamber Orchestra as an additional performance opportunity for advanced MYSO musicians. For more than 10 years the Chamber Orchestra has provided a unique opportunity to perform repertoire that does not require the large forces of a symphony orchestra. A relatively small string section and one-on-a-part wind and brass sections enhance this exceptional experience. The group makes music on a very high level and in a very intimate setting. Past performances attest to the terrific quality of this endeavor.

Who may participate?

Everyone in Senior Symphony is eligible to participate; however, depending on the instrumentation of the repertoire selected for a particular concert cycle, the ensemble may not be able to accommodate all those who express interest. Since much of the chamber orchestra literature was written for less than the full complement of wind and brass instruments (and certainly not with 54 violins in mind!), membership may have to be limited.

Chamber Orchestra Music Director

Carter Simmons

Mr. Simmons has managed operations, growth, programming and artistic concerns for MYSO since 1992. He is honored to conduct the Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia and Junior Symphony Orchestra, and regards his time with MYSO’s musicians to be a great privilege and responsibility while also being extremely fun! Mr. Simmons has been honored by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra for “distinguished contributions to music education in Wisconsin” and received an award for Excellence in Youth Music Instruction from the Civic Music Association. He has conducted the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Racine Symphony Orchestra, Kenosha Symphony Orchestra, Festival City Symphony, and Concord Chamber Orchestra, and in Europe and China. He has served as a guest clinician for thousands of young musicians across Wisconsin and Illinois, helped design and oversee the creation of the 56,000 square foot Milwaukee Youth Arts Center and collaborated with companies such as First Stage Children’s Theater, Present Music, the Milwaukee Ballet and the MSO. Mr. Simmons has presented at the conference of the League of American Orchestras and participated in conducting seminars of both the League, conducting the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Conductor’s Guild, conducting Eastman's Wind Ensemble, and was named as a finalist of the National Symphony Orchestra’s National Conducting Institute. Mr. Simmons was extremely fortunate to work with conducting teachers Dr. John R. Locke, and Professors Robert Gutter, Thomas L. Dvorak and Larry Rachleff. As part of his education he attended classes led by Elizabeth A. H. Green, John Downey, Leon Fleischer, Gustav Meier, Frederick Fennell, H. Robert Reynolds, Christopher Wilkins, Donald Thulean, and Larry Rachleff among others. He received his B.M. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Horn Performance, and his M.M. in Conducting from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he was a graduate assistant and a conductor of the UWMYWE program. Mr. Simmons is a native of Virginia and North Carolina and received much of his early musical training from members of the Washington, D.C. military bands.