“The Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra will be 100 years old next year and is the oldest orchestra in Wisconsin still performing,” reads an unsigned article in Tuesday’s (5/9) Sheboygan Press (Wisc.). “A new book on the history of the SSO is expected to be ready by May 2018—just in time to kick off the festivities for the 2018-19 season. Both the author of the book, Joe Milicia, and the layout artist, Joe Blake, are SSO players—Milicia on clarinet and Blake on percussion.… ‘It’s been fascinating looking into the early history of the orchestra,’ Milicia said. ‘Our first concert was in Zion Reformed Church, which is now the Landmark Suites building …’ During its ‘middle years’ it was called the Sheboygan Civic Symphony Orchestra… In the 1950s and ’60s it was the pit orchestra for musicals performed by the Sheboygan Community Players…. In the 1970s … the original name was brought back…. The SSO is carrying on the mission of the founders: to provide great classical music, along with pops favorites, to the Sheboygan public. Milicia and Blake’s book on the SSO is expected to be about 100 pages long by the time it is completed next spring.”
Posted May 10, 2017
