Festival City Symphony Information

Festival City Symphony (FCS) has been an important member of the Milwaukee-area arts community for nearly 100 years. Formerly known as the Milwaukee Civic Symphony Orchestra, Festival City Symphony is Milwaukee’s oldest performing symphony orchestra. Its mission is to extend the reach of classical music in the Milwaukee-area community by presenting free and engaging concerts in formats that embrace people of all ages. In 1993, the Milwaukee Civic Symphony Orchestra became a standalone nonprofit organization. Under its new name, Festival City Symphony, the orchestra performed its premier concert on February 27, 1994, in the historic Pabst Theater. Striving to attract new audiences to live classical music performances, the orchestra’s collaborative programs often incorporate local arts or educational organizations, Milwaukee-based performers and artists, and children’s performing groups. Composed of professional musicians from around the Milwaukee area, FCS member musicians serve as instructors in many of Milwaukee's universities, public and private schools, and private lesson studios. FCS presents two concert series, the Saturday Classics series at the Bradley Symphony Center, and the Pajama Jamboree series at the Marcus Performing Arts Center.