Mission Statement
The Wisconsin Wind Orchestra will perform and record, at the highest professional standards, the most distinguished international literature for chamber winds and percussion.
About the WWO
********************
The Wisconsin Wind Orchestra was established in 1995 as one of the few professional wind chamber wind ensembles in the world. From 1997-2017 the group was the resident ensemble of Carroll University but established themselves in 2018 as a fully independent corporation with 501(c)3 status. Comprised of Wisconsin's finest freelance musicians, the ensemble builds on the tradition of musical excellence found in major symphony orchestras, the innovation of wind groups such as the Eastman Wind Ensemble and Netherlands Wind Ensemble, and the technical versatility of the premier military bands. The personnel of the WWO regularly perform with other noted orchestras such as the Wisconsin Philharmonic, Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, Florentine and Skylight Opera Companies, Present Music, the Madison, Kenosha, Green Bay and Racine Symphonies, the Festival City Symphony, and the Madison and Concord Chamber Orchestras.
The performance repertoire spans a wide range of works, all written by master composers from Mozart and Haydn, to Mendelssohn, Grainger and Mussorgsky. The instrumentation varies according to the demands of the particular repertoire, resulting in eight to more than forty players playing in a given concert. The Wind Orchestra is also committed to the support of living composers and often programs new music that is accessible for audiences and rewarding for the performers.
In 2002, the Wisconsin Wind Orchestra embarked on a European concert tour, where it was the featured ensemble on a live radio broadcast from the famed Amsterdam Concertgebouw, home of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. In 2006 the ensemble was invited to perform at the Northcentral Division Conference of the College Band Directors National Association held at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
The WWO returned to Europe in the summer of 2015, concertizing in Italy and acting as ensemble in residence at the first international conducting symposium hosted by the Morlacchi Conservatory of Music in Perugia, Italy. The WWO returned to Italy in the summer of 2017 for another series of concerts, where they performed at the Segni Barocchi Festival in Foligno and was ensemble-in-residence for the International Music Project in Bevagna, Umbria.
***************************
Goals
For the People of Wisconsin:
For the Musicians of Wisconsin:
For the International Business and Arts Communitites:
- To provide high caliber professional orchestra concerts at a reasonable cost locally, in Milwaukee, and southeastern Wisconsin to smaller Wisconsin communities no otherwise served by professional caliber musical groups.
- To inspire and support young Wisconsin musicians, thus encouraging the continuation of strong arts education in the state
For the Musicians of Wisconsin:
- To bring together the state's top professional wind and percussion players for concentrated rehearsals and performances
- To feature in performance and recordings the top soloists from the Milwaukee Symphony as well as other nationally acclaimed artists living in Wisconsin
- To program and record the best examples of both traditional and contemporary wind music
For the International Business and Arts Communitites:
- To develop mentoring relationships with wind orchestras throughout the world, thus providing a role model for the creation of other similar professional ensembles
- To commission internationally recognized composers to create original music for premiere performances and recordings