Conductor Ken-David Masur will leave his role at the orchestra after the 2025/26 season
Following a seven-year tenure as the music director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO), Ken-David Masur will be stepping down from the role after the orchestra’s 2025/26 concert season.
Masur was first appointed to the position during the 2019/20 season. He has since contributed innovative programming, deeper community engagement, and appointed over 20 orchestra musicians, including the new concertmaster, Jinwoo Lee, and the assistant conductor, Ryan Tani.
His career highlights with the MSO include overseeing the introduction of more than 100 works to the orchestra — 33 of which are works by living composers, and many that he will have conducted.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, he kept the orchestra active and connected with its the community through initiatives such as 26 episodes of the Musical Journeys podcast, which featured Yo-Yo Ma, Augustin Hadelich, Matthias Pintscher, Augusta Read Thomas, Emanuel Ax, conductor Nicholas McGegan, and MSO Music Director Laureate Edo de Waart.
Throughout his career, Masur has further conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic; the Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, National, and San Francisco symphonies; l’Orchestre National de France; Norway’s Kristiansand Symphony; and Tokyo’s Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, among others.
Currently, he serves as the Principal Conductor of the Chicago Symphony’s Civic Orchestra. Alongside his wife, pianist Melinda Lee Masur, he is also the founder and director of the annual Chelsea Music Festival in New York City.
Masur will finish the season at MSO with opera favorites featuring the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus in the works of Verdi, Wagner, and Mozart. He will be announcing MSO’s 2025/26 season in March 2025.
“It has been an immense joy and privilege to collaborate with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra — an exceptional ensemble made of world-class musicians deeply committed to conveying the soul and spirit of the music,” Masur said in the press release. “I arrived at this orchestra with great anticipation shortly before the pandemic and am so proud of how we continued to dream together and work creatively to keep making music for the city through 2020.
“Because of their inherent capacity to console, inspire, and reveal the best of who we are, I believe music and the arts to be essential in creating space for probing dialogue and building thriving communities,” he continued. “Each one of the programs and projects the orchestra and I continue to explore together celebrates our common humanity through life’s greatest joys and most devastating challenges. For years, people around the world and in the international music scene have taken note of this fantastic orchestra, and now all people of Milwaukee must know how exciting a time it is to be experiencing live music performed by our orchestra in one of the best concert halls in North America today. I will leave with so much gratitude towards these musicians and those who have welcomed me and my family to this great city.”
“Throughout his tenure, Ken has been a thoughtful leader, crafting programs that have inspired and engaged Milwaukee audiences,” noted MSO board chair Susan Martin. “Ken has been a collaborative and creative partner to the board and the administration, from working closely with us during the pandemic, to engaging deeply in the orchestra’s efforts in fostering an inclusive experience for our community … We are greatly looking forward to celebrating Ken and his tenure with the MSO throughout the remainder of this season and next.”
“Ken’s passion for our orchestra and the Milwaukee community has been evident since day one,” added Mark Niehaus, MSO’s president and executive director. “It was unfortunate that his first season was cut short in 2019-20 when the global pandemic canceled concerts for months. However, Ken’s creativity and drive to pivot to the Reimagined Season showed his commitment to Milwaukee, the music, and the artistry of our orchestra. We were able to continue to deliver on our mission due to Ken’s leadership in that moment … Next season will be the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus’s 50th anniversary, and who better to lead them through this milestone than someone passionate and committed to choral music. We are looking forward to exceptional performances with Ken throughout this season and 2025-26.”
Founded in 1959, the MSO comprises 72 full-time professional musicians who perform over 135 classics, pops, family, education, and community concerts each season in venues throughout the state. In addition, the orchestra reaches more than 30,000 children and their families through its Arts in Community Education program, Youth and Teen concerts, and Family Series.
