FOR TEH CITY TIMES

CENTRAL WISCONSIN – The Central Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra Program (CWYSOP) has a new music director and conductor of its symphony orchestra.

Richard Brunson, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at Marshfield, was selected for the position formerly held by Kurt Van Tiem, now retired after serving as the CWYSOP music director for the past seven years.
Brunson joins fellow staff members Jodi Engum Kryshak, program coordinator; Stephan Wucherer, Philharmonia conductor; and Brian Baldauff, Percussion Ensemble director.

In addition to conducting the performing ensembles and teaching music theory, conducting, and music appreciation at UWSP at Marshfield, Brunson has served as the artistic director of the Central Chamber Chorale in Marshfield since 2017. He was the second-place winner in the London Classical Soloists conducting competition in 2019 and has guest conducted the Desert Winds in Las Vegas, Nev., and the Associació Musical El Verger in Valencia, Spain.

CWYSOP will continue its programming this fall. Central Wisconsin musicians of all instruments in grades 6-12 are invited to participate. Students receive sectional coaching from UW-Stevens Point music education majors as well as masterclasses from Music Department and Aber Suzuki Center faculty.

CWYSOP was founded in partnership with the UW-Stevens Point Music Department, Aber Suzuki Center, UW-Stevens Point Continuing Education and music educators in central Wisconsin. It has extensive partnerships with nationally renowned faculty in state-of-the-art facilities at UW-Stevens Point’s Noel Fine Arts Center. Its membership includes more than 100 students from a five-county region.

For more information and fall registration dates, go to www.uwsp.edu/cwysop or call 715-346-3838.