Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra (MYSO) has spent seven decades proving a single, powerful truth: when young people are given access to world-class musical training, extraordinary things happen.

Founded in 1956 with one orchestra and 30 students, MYSO has grown into one the most expansive and respected youth orchestra programs in the United States — enrolling 1,000 young musicians, ages 8 to 18, drawn from 200 schools across southeastern Wisconsin. Through outreach, MYSO touches an additional 6,000 youth each year and performs for audiences of 30,000 through more than 150 public concerts. With over 40 ensemble and enrichment options, symphony and string orchestras, jazz and steel bands, music theory, composition, and international tours — MYSO meets young musicians wherever they are and takes them further than they imagined possible.

The organization has received the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, the highest honor bestowed by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities -- recognition not just of musical excellence, but of MYSO’s transformative role in the lives of young people and their communities.

MYSO is a proud founding member of the United Performing Arts Fund and is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

For more information about MYSO and its many programs, please visit myso.org.