Welcome to the Homestead Orchestras! Musicians in this well-established program perform a wide range of music including standard orchestral repertoire and selections from film scores and theater favorites. Orchestra musicians participate in a variety of school and community activities, including athletics, drama, and other organizations. They typically enroll in AP/honors courses, as well as orchestra.
Our graduates pursue higher education nationwide, majoring in diverse fields such as engineering, business and finance, pre-med, and pre-law, often while continuing their musical journeys at the university level.
Our orchestra regularly tours the U.S. and abroad, with past performances in Germany, Spain, and Italy, among others. We have also performed at Carnegie Hall and collaborated with professional musicians from the Milwaukee Symphony.
The Homestead Orchestra receives strong support from district and school administrators, as well as the Mequon-Thiensville Orchestra Parents, Inc., who assist with fundraising, scholarships, and tours.
Our dedicated faculty includes Lauren Harvath (middle school), Megan Aswegan (elementary strings), Janet Dixon, and Kate Behring (elementary instruction)
John W. Emanuelson is serving in his 26th year as Director of Orchestras at Homestead, and his 31st year as a high school orchestra teacher. He is the recipient of the Outstanding Educator Award from the MT District, the MT Education Foundation Excellence in Teaching Award, the Herb Kohl Foundation Excellence in Teaching Kohl Fellowship, and was named “Music Teacher of the Year” by the Civic Music Association of Milwaukee. He also serves as Director of the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra (MYSO) Metropolitan Orchestra. Active as an orchestral violinist, Mr. Emanuelson has performed with the Milwaukee Symphony and is a frequent member of the Kenosha and Festival City Symphony Orchestras. He has served as First Violin Section Coach for the WSMA All-State Honors Orchestra. He received his Master’s Degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder and is a graduate of Lawrence University. He studied violin with Oswald Lehnert and Patricia Anders. At CU, Mr. Emanuelson was a Suzuki Pedagogy student of William Starr and studied Baroque performance with Elizabeth Farr. He has studied conducting with Richard Hynson. He has also taught AP Music Theory at Homestead.
