The Case for WYSO’s New Home

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The Case for WYSO’s New Home

For the last three years, WYSO has been operating without programming space, holding rehearsals for 450 students in schools, churches, and parking lots. Students on a Music Makers waiting list are on hold, waiting to be accepted. This new building at 1118 East Washington Avenue in downtown Madison will allow WYSO to expand program opportunities, remove barriers, and create an inclusive community in which all WYSO programs are under a single roof.

Read WYSO’s timeline below to better understand how almost 500% growth and disrupted plans caused by the pandemic led to an acute need for indoor space. After two years of hosting programs in schools, churches, and under tents in parking lots, the time is now for a permanent home for WYSO and a center for music for the community.

WYSO’s Ode to Joy

On the musical staff above is notated the simple melody for “Ode to Joy.”

Click here to watch four hundred WYSO and Music Makers students perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor with “Ode to Joy Finale at Madison’s Overture Center.