THE MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND PRINCIPAL POPS CONDUCTOR BYRON STRIPLING ANNOUNCE 2025-26 POPS SEASON
BYRON STRIPLING opens the MSO season in a concert featuring the music of Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor, Patti LaBelle, and Diana Ross
The MSO will perform the music of THE WIZARD OF OZ live with the classic movie playing on the big screen
RYAN TANI will once again conduct perennial-favorite HOLIDAY POPS for seven performances in December
Vocalist STEVE LIPPIA returns for SIMPLY SWINGIN’ VALENTINE over the holiday weekend in February, featuring the music of Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and more
Celebrate spooky season with the Sanderson Sisters in Disney’s HOCUS POCUS with live orchestra Halloween weekend
Ring in the New Year with the Academy Award-winning film THE GODFATHER with the Academy Award-nominated score performed live to the movie
STRIPLING returns in March to lead the orchestra in the music of the ’80s and then closes the season in May with AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary
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Milwaukee, Wis. 4/18/2025 – The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Stein Family Foundation Principal Pops Conductor Byron Stripling announced plans today for the 2025-26 Pops Season.
This diverse concert series will celebrate a wide range of musical genres and eras, including spirituals, gospel, blues, big band, and jazz crooners, as well as hits from the disco era of the ’70s and the iconic music of the ’80s. The orchestra will also present several film-with-orchestra concerts, showcasing classics such as The Wizard of Oz, Hocus Pocus, and The Godfather.
Stripling will conduct three programs during the 2025-26 season. The opening concert, Disco Divas, will feature the music of renowned artists like Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor, Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, and Diana Ross. Another program will highlight beloved songs from the ’80s, including hits by Madonna, Debbie Gibson, Huey Lewis and The News, Phil Collins, Queen, and Joe Cocker. Stripling will conclude the season with America the Beautiful, a special concert celebrating the 250th anniversary of America through a musical journey that reflects the heart and soul of the nation.
Subscriptions for the 2025-26 season are on sale now. Single tickets go on sale August 8, 2025.
Pops 1 – Disco Divas
Fri, Sep 26, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Sat, Sep 27, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Sun, Sep 28, 2025 at 2:30 pm
Byron Stripling, conductor
Shayna Steele, Kelly LeVesque, and Crystal Monee Hall, vocalists
Put on your sequins and platform shoes and head down to the Bradley Symphony Center where Principal Pops Conductor Byron Stripling will heat up the symphonic dance floor with Disco Divas! Join us as we celebrate the reigning Queens of Disco with powerhouse vocals backed by driving orchestral forces, featuring the music of Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor, Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, and the one and only Diana Ross, along with classic Disco hits from Earth, Wind & Fire, The Bee Gees, Michael Jackson, and more. Sing along with the Disco Divas to your favorite hits like “Bad Girls,” “I’m Coming Out,” “Lady Marmalade,” “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now,” “We Are Family,” “I Will Survive,” and “She Works Hard for the Money.”
Pops 2 – The Wizard of Oz in Concert
Fri, Nov 7, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Sat, Nov 8, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Sun, Nov 9, 2025 at 2:30 pm
TBD, conductor
“There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home…” Tap your ruby slippers together and come home to the Bradley Symphony Center to experience the fantastical story of Dorothy and her unlikely friends as they journey together to the Emerald City. Get swept away by timeless melodies like “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “The Merry Old Land of Oz” as the MSO performs Herbert Stothart’s breathtaking score live along with the 1939 classic film.
Pops 3 – Holiday Pops
Sat, Dec 13, 2025 at 2:30 pm
Sat, Dec 13, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Sun, Dec 14, 2025 at 2:30 pm
Fri, Dec 19, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Sat, Dec 20, 2025 at 2:30 pm
Sat, Dec 20, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Sun, Dec 21, 2025 at 2:30 pm
Ryan Tani, conductor
Milwaukee Symphony Chorus
Cheryl Frazes Hill, director
Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble
Jana Larsen, director
Milwaukee’s favorite hometown holiday tradition is back! Join your Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Chorus, and Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble as we deck Allen-Bradley Hall with holiday cheer. Share musical magic and create cozy holiday memories with family and friends while we usher in a joyful season of celebration.
Pops 4 – Simply Swingin’ Valentine
Fri, Feb 13, 2026 at 7:30 pm
Sat, Feb 14, 2026 at 7:30 pm
Sun, Feb 15, 2026 at 2:30 pm
TBD, conductor
Steve Lippia, vocalist
Will you be my Valentine? Cozy up with the one you love this Valentine’s Day and enjoy the smooth orchestral sounds of love and romance live on stage with jazz vocalist Steve Lippia and your MSO. Featuring the sultry songs of yesterday and today made popular by Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and more. This performance will take you on a nostalgic journey that promises to leave you tapping your toes and humming along to some of the most memorable Hollywood standards ever written.
Pops 5 – Decades: Back to the ’80s
Fri, Mar 27, 2026 at 7:30 pm
Sat, Mar 28, 2026 at 7:30 pm
Sun, March 29, 2026 at 2:30 pm
Byron Stripling, conductor
Brie Cassil, Paul Loren, and Colin Smith, vocalists
Back to the ’80s is a power-packed evening of the decade’s #1 hit songs, including “The Power of Love,” “Time After Time,” “Material Girl,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” “Footloose,” “Addicted to Love,” and many others. Featuring the music of such ’80s iconic stars as Madonna, Debbie Gibson, Huey Lewis & The News, Phil Collins, Queen, Joe Cocker, and others, Back to the ’80s contains all new arrangements by Grammy winner Jeff Tyzik and features three incredible vocalists.
Pops 6 – America the Beautiful
Fri, May 22, 2026 at 7:30 pm
Sat, May 23, 2026 at 7:30 pm
Sun, May 24, 2026 at 2:30 pm
Byron Stripling, conductor
Bobby Floyd, organ
Celebrate America’s 250th birthday with a musical journey that captures the heart and soul of the nation through its rich tapestry of sound. This exhilarating concert experience showcases the evolution of American music, from spirituals and gospel tunes that lifted spirits to the rhythms of ragtime and the heartfelt passion of the blues. Stripling’s charismatic trumpet and vocals along with the incredible talents of organist Bobby Floyd lead the audience through the birth of jazz, the soulful grooves of R&B, and all the vibrant genres that define the American soundscape.
FILMS
Hocus Pocus in Concert Live to Film
Fri, Oct 31, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Sat, Nov 1, 2025 at 7:30 pm
TBD, conductor
This Halloween, the Sanderson Sisters are back, and Disney’s Hocus Pocus will cast its spell on you like never before!
Accidentally brought back to life in Salem on Halloween night, three witches attempt to steal the life essence from the town’s children so they can have eternal life. They are outwitted by a boy named Max Dennison, his young sister, Dani, and his girlfriend, Allison, and aided by a boy, Thackery Binx, who had been changed into a cat for trying to interfere with the witches centuries earlier. Dust off your broom — or vacuum! — and zoom on down to Allen-Bradley Hall for a night of toil and trouble with the Sanderson sisters and your MSO as John Debney’s bewitching score is performed live along with the film.
Presentation licensed by Disney Concerts. All rights reserved.
The Godfather
Fri, Jan 2, 2026 at 7:30 pm
Sat, Jan 3, 2026 at 7:30 pm
TBD, conductor
Relive the chilling portrait of the Sicilian clan’s rise and near fall from power in The Godfather as the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra performs Nino Rota’s Oscar®-nominated score live to picture. This three-time Academy Award®-winning film features Marlon Brando as the Corleone family patriarch, accompanied by career-making performances from Al Pacino, James Caan, and Robert Duvall. A concert experience you can’t refuse!
About Byron Stripling
With a contagious smile and captivating charm, conductor, trumpet virtuoso, singer, and actor Byron Stripling has ignited audiences across the globe. In 2024, Stripling was named Stein Family Foundation Principal Pops Conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. In 2020, Stripling was named principal pops conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and his baton has led countless orchestras throughout the United States and Canada. As a soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra, Stripling has performed frequently under the baton of Keith Lockhart, as well as being the featured soloist on the PBS television special Evening at Pops with conductors John Williams and Mr. Lockhart. Currently, Stripling serves as artistic director and conductor of the highly acclaimed Columbus Jazz Orchestra.
Since his Carnegie Hall debut with Skitch Henderson and the New York Pops, Stripling has become a pops orchestra favorite throughout the country, soloing with over 100 orchestras around the world, including the Boston Pops, National Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Cincinnati Pops, Seattle Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Toronto Symphony, and orchestras throughout Europe and Asia. He has been a featured soloist at the Hollywood Bowl and performs at festivals around the world.
An accomplished actor and singer, Stripling was chosen, following a worldwide search, to star in the lead role of the Broadway-bound musical Satchmo. Many will remember his featured cameo performance in the television movie The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and his critically acclaimed virtuoso trumpet and riotous comedic performance in the 42nd Street production of From Second Avenue to Broadway.
In addition to multiple recordings with his quintet, work with artists from Tony Bennett to Whitney Houston, his prolific recording career includes hundreds of albums with the greatest pop, Broadway, soul and jazz artists of all time.
Stripling earned his stripes as lead trumpeter and soloist with the Count Basie Orchestra under the direction of Thad Jones and Frank Foster. He has also played and recorded extensively with the bands of Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Dave Brubeck, Lionel Hampton, Clark Terry, Louis Bellson, and Buck Clayton, in addition to Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, and The GRP All Star Big Band.
Stripling was educated at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and the Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan. One of his greatest joys is to return periodically to Eastman and Interlochen as a special guest lecturer.
About the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, led by Music Director Ken-David Masur, is among the finest orchestras in the nation and the largest cultural institution in Wisconsin. Since its inception in 1959, the MSO 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 72 full-time professional musicians perform over 135 classics, pops, family, education, and community concerts each season in venues throughout the state. A pioneer among American orchestras, the MSO has performed world and American premieres of works by John Adams, Roberto Sierra, Philip Glass, Geoffrey Gordon, Marc Neikrug, Camille Pépin, Matthias Pintscher, and Dobrinka Tabakova, as well as garnered national recognition as the first American orchestra to offer live recordings on iTunes. The MSO’s standard of excellence extends beyond the concert hall and into the community, reaching more than 30,000 children and their families through its Arts in Community Education (ACE) program, Youth and Teen concerts, and Family Series.
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