Over a thousand people gathered at the Overture Center Saturday for the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s Centennial Fest, a celebration of the last hundred years of the orchestra. Every activity and performance during the weekend-long event was free, opening access to all.
Former Madison Symphony Orchestra oboist Marc Fink’s granddaughter Audrey, 10, tests out a violin Saturday during the orchestra’s 100th anniversary celebration at the Overture Center.
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The Overture Center was active from floor to ceiling, with performances on multiple stages as well as vendors and hands-on activities in the lobbies.
Audience members dance with members of Madison-based charanga ensemble Charanga Agozá, formed in 2009, while they perform on the Rotunda Stage Saturday.
Guests check out the free activities and performances at the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s Centennial Fest Saturday.
Photos: New Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra building
Gabby Kelly-Schultz, 16, of Madison, warms up with her cello before a rehearsal with the Philharmonia Orchestra in the largest rehearsal space at the new Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras building on East Washington Avenue.
Piano instructor Peter Baggenstoss bikes to the new WYSO Center for Music at 1118 E. Washington Ave. shortly after the building's opening in late January 2024.
Erika Eichhoff, 12, of Middleton, prepares her space for harp rehearsal in the new WYSO Music Center.
Michelle Kaebisch conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra during rehearsal in the new WYSO Center for Music, as sunlight streams in from windows facing East Washington Avenue.
Bridget Fraser, WYSO executive director, shows the music library space at the new Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra building on East Washington Avenue. For decades, WYSO had to keep its vast music collection in rented storage spaces.
Gregory Rottinger, 10, of Blue Mounds, who plays the viola, reads a book as he waits for rehearsal in a common area at the new WYSO Center for Music. A sculpture by Madison artist Andree Valley hangs in the lobby behind him.
Students head through the lobby to their practice rooms in the new $33 million WYSO Center for Music. The building supplies mainly rehearsal and practice space, but it also houses offices, a music library and an instrument repair room.
WYSO Percussion Ensemble students, from left, Lauren Kim, 14, of Middleton, Elliot Lesperance, 16, of Oregon, Nick Ruplinger, 17, of Sun Prairie, and Nithya Allu, 15, of Middleton, play the triangle in a rehearsal space in the new WYSO Center for Music.
Susan Gardels, WYSO director of development and communication, left, and Bridget Fraser, WYSO executive director, show visitors around a rehearsal space at the new WYSO Center for Music.
From left, Sonya Golanek, 10, of Middleton, instructor Izumi Amemiya, Henry Westergaard, 13, of Beaver Dam, and Helena Fruit, 14, of McFarland, practice in the Brass Studio at the new WYSO Center for Music.
Parents, including Brad Westergaard, of Beaver Dam, right, watch from the balcony during their children’s Concert Orchestra rehearsal in the new WYSO Center for Music. The acoustical design of the rehearsal hall silences the busy traffic of East Washington Avenue just outside the window.
Dane Crozier, Percussion Ensemble assistant director, left, conducts during rehearsal in the new WYSO Center for Music. Wooden panels on the wall and a special ceiling are part of the room's acoustical design.
