For 18 years, Margery Deutsch led the University Community Orchestra at UW-Milwaukee with open arms and a gentle confidence in her nonprofessional musicians.
With associate conductor Kari Kraenzler, she grew the orchestra to 165 members through recruitment and word of mouth, securing sponsorships and packing concerts along the way.
It became a safe space for many of the orchestra’s musicians – UWM students and outside community members of all ages continuing their love of music. “UCO [was] a very happy place,” she says. “Everybody’s there because they want to be there.”
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So, even considering unusual roadblocks from UWM last spring, Deutsch was stunned to be let go over email in July.
“I was a professor emerita,” says Deutsch, who was UWM’s director of orchestras from 1984 until retiring in 2012. “I devoted 39 years of my career and life to that university, and that’s how they decided to treat me.”
The notice came less than two weeks before what became Deutsch’s final concert with the UCO. She was told one reason for the nonrenewal of her contract was budget constraints. “I offered to work for free,” she says.
Instead, UWM’s music department put the UCO under the control of current director of orchestras Jun Kim. MilMag reached out to UWM for an interview; the university provided a statement saying the move was made “to align with academic and budgetary priorities.”
Over 40 people sent heartfelt letters to the department in Deutsch’s support, citing her kindness and impact. “When you have something that is so clearly beloved, why would you do something to destroy it?” says violist Erin Kaprelian. Violist Kellie Windsor adds: “They made an odd decision by taking away the piece that was holding a lot of us there.”
Almost immediately, Deutsch and Kraenzler formed their own group: the Milwaukee Community Orchestra. Within weeks, they found a sponsor in Gateway Organization Milwaukee and a rehearsal space at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center.
The musicians themselves pitched in – building a website, designing a logo, and more. “The diversity of talent outside of music that we have is one of the big reasons we were able to set this up so quickly,” says Kaprelian, who read legal contracts. “Margery and Kari are the reason people were willing to jump in with both feet.”
The MCO quickly swelled to about 150 members – most of whom switched over from the UCO. The musicians called the first rehearsal in late September reenergizing. “It was like waking up on Christmas morning not in your family home, but still surrounded by your family,” says Windsor.
At the head of that family is Deutsch, who nearly retired before COVID when she decided to keep going. “Then this happened,” she says. “And I’m like, well, I’m not going to leave now. This is just starting to get good.”
The Milwaukee Community Orchestra’s first concert is on Dec. 8 at Homestead High School in Mequon.
