The MSO's nationally-recognized Up Close & Musical Program brings the power and beauty of music into the classrooms of elementary schools throughout Dane County. The curriculum is guided by the Wisconsin State Model Academic Standards for Music and is provided free to participating schools.

This year, 13 area schools expressed interest in this growing program and the following six were selected. Chavéz, Elvehjem, Franklin, Lapham and Midvale Elementary Schools in the Madison Metropolitan School District and Madison Country Day School in Waunakee.

Up Close & Musical brings the Hunt Quartet into the classroom to create exciting, interactive lessons that require students to "hunt" for things within the music. The Hunt Quartet makes a total of four visits to six different Dane County elementary schools each year. During these small group encounters, the students get close to all four musicians and their instruments.

The Hunt Quartet helps students explore the musical concepts of expression, rhythm, melody and form. Each visit ends with a large group performance where students hear those concepts in all-school concerts.

Each year, the Up Close & Musical Program culminates with Symphony Soup, a concert in Overture Hall in which the entire Symphony plays some of the works the children have been hearing all year, and members of the Hunt Quartet are prominently featured on stage. Symphony Soup is presented by the Overture OnStage Performing Arts Series.

The Up Close & Musical program is a collaborative effort between the MSO, the UW-Madison School of Music, and the Overture Center for the Arts.