New performance home of MSO will be called 'Bradley Symphony Center'

MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO) announced on Thursday, Feb. 13 that its new performance home will be called the “Bradley Symphony Center.” It is named in honor of Harry and Peg Bradley -- and will stand in tribute to their family’s lasting impact on Milwaukee’s civic and cultural landscape, a news release said.

The naming follows David and Julia Uihlein, Lynde Uihlein, and The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation gifting a total of $52 million toward the renovation of the former Warner Grand Theater into a dedicated performance home for the MSO. The Jane Bradley Pettit Foundation also made a significant gift. David Uihlein and Lynde Uihlein are the grandchildren of Harry and Peg Bradley. Their mother, Jane Bradley Pettit, was Harry and Peg’s daughter.

In addition, Bradley Symphony Center’s 1,650 seat concert hall will be named Allen-Bradley Hall, honoring the men and women who built the Allen-Bradley Company into a prosperous global technology enterprise. Allen-Bradley was founded in 1903 by Lynde and Harry Bradley and sold to Rockwell International in 1985.

Opening in the fall of 2020, the Bradley Symphony Center will include not only Allen-Bradley Hall but community, education and collaboration spaces, a new two-story glass pavilion and a 12-story Art Deco office building. The office building will serve as home to the MSO’s administration and community education offices, as well as house catering facilities, multipurpose studios, and a musicians’ library.