Dear MSO Retirees,
We welcome new retiree Lynn Horner to our group! I first met Lynn at the Marlboro Music Festival in the early 70’s. She was a student at Curtis then and I had the opportunity to hear her talent in some wonderful performances. She also was a great square dancer! It is unfortunate the orchestra was unable to give her an appropriate thank-you due to the season’s cancellation, but hope that she will enjoy her coming days of no run-outs, double rehearsals, and 9 service weeks.
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Before COVID 19 took over our schedules, Anne and Gary Kamerling enjoyed a break from Milwaukee’s cold weather. Anne writes-
We just returned from 3+ weeks in Phoenix. We enjoyed many museums, especially the Musical Instruments Museum. We also saw the Desert Botanical Garden and the zoo. Garry enjoyed renting an electric scooter there and now is planning to get a Zinger! We drove winding roads in the mountains and attended a winning Brewers game as well. We drove to Tucson and enjoyed a visit with Bonnie Peterson, who is busy playing in an opera orchestra now….attaching a photo of us in her back yard. But maybe the best part of our vacation was just walking around without heavy coats!

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Janet Millard also had an MSO visitor. Kathy Collison joined fellow cellist, ex-flutist Janet at a concert while traveling in Arizona and New Mexico. Kathy’s daughter, Diana, is a paramedic and has lived in New Mexico for six years. This July she will be joining the next class of Physician Assistants at the University of New Mexico Medical School. No, Kathy isn’t a retiree, but I thought you might enjoy catching up with her.


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Danis Kelly, her sister Suzanne and brother-in-law John visited Hawaii in late February. They enjoyed a cruise around the islands and Danis spent extra time in Oahu. Their last island before returning to Oahu on the ship was Kauai and we had a wonderful visit with them. Suzanne is a lover of the musical South Pacific and we toured all the beaches where songs were filmed. We also managed to sneak in a trip to Waimea Canyon. It was great to see Danis again- I used to call her “my other stand partner.” Suzanne is a violinist and John a bassoonist retired now from the North Carolina Symphony and the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra. When you visit Kauai, we’ll show you our island, too.
Danis riding down Haleakala on Maui.

Danis and especially Suzanne often burst out singing one of the songs from South Pacific.


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Our own Renaissance Woman, Judy Ormond, recently had a painting posted on the Art School Milwaukee’s Facebook page. Judy writes-
I painted this based on a photo from Cuba. I’m hoping we can see the beauty of the world despite our collective fears. Take care everyone.

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Another creative soul, Bill Barnewitz, won First Place in the Memoir category of the 2020 Friends of the Whitefish Bay Public Library Writing Contest. You can read his story, a “classic tale of childhood misbehaviour under the influence of my grandfather” at
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Found Rick Metzger’s 1957 High School Graduation photo and one taken a little later (I think) on Facebook. Handsome lad!


Rick and Margaret are helping kids read, especially during this pandemic, with their Little Free Library. I’m sure they would appreciate any book donations for the cause. Rick says that the reading levels are from lower to upper Elementary. And you can always order a book and have it sent directly to them at W200 N16275 Pine Drive,
Jackson, WI, 53037.

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If all goes well with the city opening, David Taggart will be joining the members of his new orchestra, the Milwaukee Mandolin Orchestra, for their performance at the Italian Community Center (631 E Chicago St, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202) on Friday, May 29, 2020 at 7 PM – 8 PM. The performance will be held in Festa Hall and is open to the public- $10 at the door. Refreshments will be available for purchase from La Scala restaurant.
Having been founded in 1900, the MMO is the oldest fretted-instrument music organization in the United States! Go if you can and give David your support. Glenn Asch’s wife, Laurie, also plays with them. I’m sure it will be a lot of fun.
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Dennis Najoom and grandson Walden have been sharing some quality time together.

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In spite of the pandemic, work continues on the MSO’s Bradley Symphony Center. For media updates, please check-
I hope you have been viewing the wonderful work the MSO Musicians have been providing on their FaceBook site. There is a violin Bach Marathon, you can learn how to make reeds with a bassoonist, hear a rollicking Beer Barrel Polka from the horn section, and read updates on what various musicians are doing during this time away from the job. The MSO’s own Backstage site has a beautiful performance done of Nimrod from Elgar’s Enigma Variations as a gift to the community and in memory of Walter Robb, a longtime MSO supporter. You can also view it at https://youtu.be/E8T7Y-E6E_w
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As I write this, it is May 4th. A day usually remembered by “May the 4th be with you,” but for Woody and me it has a different significance. We were both at Kent State fifty years ago and experienced the “Kent State Massacre.” I was a grad student teaching my Music Fundamentals course when we heard the shots. Woody, as you would guess, was in the midst of it all with his trusty Leicas.
On Saturday night students had burned the ROTC building demonstrating against the bombing of Cambodia. They then marched a few blocks into downtown and caused disturbance and damage. As I walked to campus on Monday the 4th, I saw a tank with Ohio State National Guardsmen and their rifles with bayonets mounted at the main entrance of the University. The Guard were very tired, having been sent directly to Kent after dealing with a nasty Teamsters strike during the weekend.
That afternoon Woody found himself at the end of a long line of Guardsman with weapons drawn and facing down the hill toward students. He saw a hand raise with a pistol and fire the first shot. I didn’t believe the shots we heard in class were real. I knew the Guard had a series of steps in controlling riots and live ammo was at the bottom of that list. We had smelled tear gas, one of the first measures. How could it jump so quickly to the most deadly? Sixty-seven bullets fired in 13 seconds killed four and wounded nine students. Of those killed, the average distance from the Guard was 345 feet. One Guardsman was hurt 10 minutes before the shooting started. The President’s Commission on Campus Unrest criticized both the protesters and the Guardsmen, but it concluded that “the indiscriminate firing of rifles into a crowd of students and the deaths that followed were unnecessary, unwarranted, and inexcusable.”
Classes were canceled for the rest of the term, but we were able to gather for a performance of Britten’s War Requiem performed by students and faculty of the Music School with Robert Shaw conducting. You can still see bullet holes in the metal sculpture in front of the Journalism building
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A friend of Rick Metzger’s posted this rhythm aid for the young music students of today. Yes, it needs a spelling correction, but I hope it brings you a smile.

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I pray you and your families will all be spared from COVID 19. If you are a bit bored and need something to do, how about sending your news so that the rest of us can know you are okay and what you are doing to keep out of mischief?
Please enjoy some of Dottie Digg’s beautiful photos from Monet’s Giverney garden.
Take care,
Andrea











































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