The Federal Music Project was a unit of the Works Progress Administration (later the Work Projects Administration) operated between 1935 and 1941 to employ musicians, composers, arrangers, and music copyists. Much of the work of the Project centered on creating musical ensembles for live performances, including the Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra, the Pit Orchestra of Milwaukee, the Concert Orchestra of Madison, the Kenosha Concert Band, and many other local orchestras and bands around the state.
The Project also produced arrangements and created copies of works for these various ensembles to use in performances. The Copying and Arranging Project had operations in Milwaukee and Madison and employed musicians from some of the projects performing ensembles, principally the Spanish Serenaders, the Colored Orchestra, the German Band and the Civic Band.
