How do I get one?

My book, A Century of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, was published on October 1, 2025—just in time for the opening of the MSO’s 100th season. This has been one of my major post-retirement projects, with research and writing extending for about six years, from 2018 to June 2024. I guess that I was kind of destined to write this book…or at least I’m arrogant enough to say that I’m uniquely qualified, having had experience with virtually every aspect of the MSO over the last 40+ years, I played in the trombone section from 1983-2018 (bass trombone from 1990-2018), and I’ve been writing program notes for the MSO since 1984. I also worked fulltime as part of the administration as MSO office manager in 1990s, and in the last couple of years, I’ve served as an advisor to MSO board. In 2000-01, I published four brief historical chapters on the orchestra for the MSO program books that 75th season, and compiled a complete chronicle of the orchestra’s performances to 2001. I’m certainly not ashamed of those chapters, but I always knew that they had been sort of a “rush job” and always wanted to go back and do it right, with much more comprehensive research: hence A Century of the Madison Symphony Orchestra.

This is a sizable book: with over 250 photographs, end notes to each chapter, bibliographies and indices, it tops out at 540 pages. Many orchestras celebrate centennial seasons with “coffeetable” books, heavy on glossy photos and celebratory prose, and light on research and detail. I wanted to do something entirely different: a piece of serious history, but one which I hope is easy to read, in small helpings. (One reason I have such an imposing table of contents is to encourage readers to “dip their toes” into various parts of this history!) It is based upon extensive work in the Wisconsin Music Archives at the university, the Wisconsin State Historical Society Archives, and the MSO’s own archives and board materials (which I reorganized and cataloged as part of my research). I combed through thousands of newspaper articles from Madison and elsewhere, and made contacts with scholars, orchestra librarians, musicians, and others from around the country and from Argentina and Germany. I also conducted dozens of formal interviews with musicians, conductors, board members, volunteers and others with valuable insight on the history of the orchestra, chorus and opera. 

The MSO’s evolution—from an amateur community group to the fully professional orchestra that exists today—is fairly typical for American orchestras in medium-sized cities like ours, but the cast of characters and the cultural background of Madison make it a unique and fascinating story. After a “prelude” chapter that talks about the history of classical music and orchestras in Madison before the founding of the Madison Civic Symphony in 1926, the even-numbered chapters (2, 4, 6, 8, 10) detail the history of the orchestra, chorus, and the early history of the Madison Opera in segments of about 20 years each. One remarkable aspect of the MSO’s history is the fact that we’ve had only four music directors in 100 years, and the odd-numbered chapters (3, 5, 7, 9) are devoted to biographies of each of these men: Sigfrid Prager, Walter Heermann, Roland Johnson, and John DeMain. It closes with Chapter 11, a brief consideration of the near future.

- Mike Allsen, Madison, WI, September 2025

How do I get one?
All proceeds from the book will be donated to the MSO. A Century of the Madison Symphony Orchestra is available directly from the publisher, Little Creek Press (www.littlecreekpress.com), a local (Mineral Point, WI) publisher focused on Wisconsin. It’s also available in a hardbound edition.  Yes, you can buy it through Amazon, etc. at a discounted price, but the royalties they return to the publisher, which are then passed on to the MSO are pretty puny. I strongly suggest that you spend five bucks more and order through Little Creek Press, which will offer a much better royalty. (And I think the MSO can put the money to better use than than Jeff Bezos can…) It will also be available at local independent booksellers. The best way to get the book in terms of money returned to the MSO (over $10 per copy) to is to purchase a copy at the MSO table in the Overture Hall lobby at MSO concerts.