Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra to play Holiday Pops concert at Arrowhead High School

This week, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra will offer a concert for the public at an area high school, as well as a special concert earlier in the day for students in the school's performing arts programs.

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra is scheduled to play its Holiday Pops concert, conducted by resident conductor Yaniv Dinur, at Arrowhead High School's North Campus Theater at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 21. The show is sponsored by online clothing retailer Wantable. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. Arrowhead's Jazz Combo and Broadway Company will provide pre-concert entertainment starting at 7 p.m. Tickets are $75 and are available at www.vancoevents.com/us/events/26393/sessions/68474/sections.

Earlier that afternoon, the MSO will perform for Arrowhead's performing arts students, according to a news release from the school.

Arrowhead principal Adam Kurth said the concert is an opportunity for the school to showcase its arts programs.

"One of the things I've realized — and I've been here for a year and a half now — is that we have a lot of really talented kids here in all areas. Our athletics are really highlighted, which is incredible and very valid. Our arts students are sometimes overshadowed by that, and it gives us an opportunity to highlight a different group of students in our building and what they accomplished and what they do and really expose them to an opportunity to see what they're passionate about at a whole other level," said Kurth in a Dec. 19 phone interview.

Kurth said he was able to connect with MSO last summer to see if the concert could work for the school.

"I have experienced this before, and watching the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra perform for students and watching the students engage with that is incredible. We could send our students out on a field trip, go there, do that, but to have them on our own campus is a pretty powerful statement to our students," Kurth said. "And the evening performance is just that additional benefit of 'we have them here. We might as well provide an opportunity for our families and our community as well.'"

Kurth said Wantable's sponsorship will help cover some of the concert's costs. He said the company is run by Tiffany Cooley, a parent in the district.

"(Cooley) has a passion for music and was in the arts when she was in high school and wanted to give back and saw this as an opportunity," Kurth said.

MSO used to do performances out in the community at area high schools and other community venues before the pandemic. Those performances were canceled when the pandemic began, according to MSO Director of Communications Erin Kogler.

Now MSO is back to a more normal schedule, Kogler said.

"After a couple years of not being able to do it, I think the orchestra is just really excited to be out in the community and see the community members and celebrate the holidays with everyone and just enjoy music together again," said Kogler in a phone interview Dec. 19.

MSO performance is opportunity for 'new effort to engage'

Arrowhead's news release said the MSO performance is the start of "a new effort to engage with parents and the community at the high school."

"Arrowhead is beginning two different series for the community: The Community Engagement Series will be a series of free events for parents to partner with the school and learn about modern challenges, trends, and resources for students and families. The Community Performance Series will be an effort to invite more artists to AHS to grow exposure and opportunities for our families and community members," the school said in its release.

Kurth said in the phone interview that the CES was developed after hearing from parents and staff about a need for a different method for families to learn about issues and engage with students about issues affecting them.

"A lot of schools do this where they present parent nights about vaping or mental health or social media and those sort of pieces. So we hope to do that as part of a series here responding to needs displayed by our families and hope to build that partnership in helping our kids and all being on the same page with what they're experiencing as high school students," Kurth said.

Kurth said the CPS is a way for the school to engage with the community about its arts programs.

"We want to make sure our families know all about our arts programs here and in doing so, there's an opportunity to create a hub for the performing arts at our school. To engage a lot of families in a lot of different ways, we're hoping to bring in performances like this, to give our families the opportunity to save a 40-minute drive into Milwaukee and save money and experience the arts at high levels both with our students and with visiting performers," Kurth said. "This idea is in its infancy and we're just working on seeing what our community has an interest in, what they're looking for, how much they want to engage with us. Any work we can do to work to with our families and our community - that's part of our hope as a school here."

Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlecJohnson12.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra to perform at Arrowhead High School