Did you play an instrument in high school but gave it up after graduation? Or maybe you took piano lessons as a kid but have not touched those keys in decades.
That is the origin story of many in the Milwaukee Community Orchestra, or MCO.
The 150-piece orchestra is only a few months old, but is already preparing for its first concert on Dec. 8. The orchestra is comprised both of longtime musicians and people dusting off their instruments for the first time in years.
For MCO co-founder and conductor Margery Deutsch, this orchestra is a continuation of what she was meant to do: educate and encourage a lifelong relationship with music.
'Fun, fellowship and fabulous music'
Deutsch's relationship with music is a story of immersion. Her cousin was acclaimed flutist and professor Samuel Baron, and she started playing the flute when she was 8. Throughout her childhood, Deutsch remembers how on Saturday mornings the TV was turned to Leonard Bernstein's "Young People's Concerts."
In short, music was in her blood, in her ears and in her daily routine.
"My parents took us to the theater and opera and ballet because we lived 30 minutes from New York City," Deutsch said. "I got to meet Bernstein at Tanglewood when I was a conducting student there in 1980, which was a dream come true. I have an autographed picture of me and Lenny."
Unsurprisingly, she studied music in college and became a conductor after getting "podium time" while studying. Her career as a conductor took her overseas, to Louisiana and eventually to Milwaukee.
"In 1987, I was hired by the Milwaukee Youth Symphony to be the conductor of their top organization," Deutsch said. "That's where I found my real heart is in music education and training."
Deutsch would go on to lead the UW-Milwaukee Community Orchestra for 18 years. But suddenly, she was let go by the university this summer, leaving her wondering what would come next.
Unable to walk away from music education, she started the MCO. It is unaffiliated with the university and is made up of about 150 musicians, most of whom came from the UWM orchestra Deutsch used to lead, according to a profile on her in this month’s Milwaukee Magazine.
Deutsch, as much a fan of The Beatles and Celtic music as she is of classical, said MCO is meant to be a place of "fun, fellowship and fabulous music," where musicians of all ages can be supported in their journey from remembering how to tune their instrument to mastering Tchaikovsky.
But most importantly, Deutsch wants to create opportunities for students to have fun being immersed in a culture of music, just as she had as a young person. For this reason, she prioritizes making MCO a place where students can be part of a musical community "in a challenging and non-competitive environment."
"If you haven't played your instrument in a while, you can get your skill set back," explains Deutsch. "We want everybody to feel challenged, but successful and happy. We want everyone to leave the rehearsals happy."
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