Spotlight on: Natalie Rumer

Being an employee of Des Moines Metro Opera often means being asked the question: Do you sing? In the case of Natalie Rumer, who joined DMMO at the end of February as Development Coordinator, the answer is an enthusiastic Yes.  A native of Cedar Rapids, IA, Rumer’s earliest musical memory is of singing a solo…

Spotlight on: Gwendolyn Jones

Though we often refer to a singer as a “DMMO audience favorite,” no artist this season has a longer claim to that description than mezzo-soprano Gwendolyn Jones.  Jones, who is singing Herodias in this summer’s Salome, not only performed in the role for the company’s 30th anniversary season in 2002 but has a history with…

Spotlight on: Wine, Food and Beer Showcase

The year was 1985. Ronald Reagan was starting his second term, USA for Africa had released its hit charity song “We Are the World,” and Des Moines Metro Opera was about to embark on a fundraising endeavor never seen before in Iowa. The national wine-drinking craze that began in the 1960s had finally taken root…

Spotlight on: Richard Strauss and DMMO

If you were to ask the average opera goer to name their favorite composer, you would probably hear the old standards of Puccini, Verdi or Mozart. You might get a Wagner, Rossini or Bizet. One name not likely to be mentioned however is Strauss—and even then it might accidentally come with a Johann (either one). …

Spotlight on: Songs of Sven Lekberg by Dr. Michael Patterson

DMMO’s late founder Dr. Robert L. Larsen once said of his mentor, composer Dr. Sven Lekberg: “It was not the elegance, the sophistication, the technical perfection, or the polished surface that appealed to Sven…but the essential truth and simplicity of art.” Such was the spirit behind Songs of Sven Lekberg, the latest compilation songbook from…

Spotlight on: John Hill and Fay Gish Hill

This month, DMMO turns the spotlight on John Hill and Fay Gish Hill, the 2023 Guild Volunteers of the Year! The Ames Chapter Guild co-presidents are longtime DMMO ticket buyers, but not native Iowans. Fay was born in Rensselaer, Indiana, and John was born in Blacksburg, Virginia. As a child, John was exposed to classical music,…

Composer Profile: Claude Debussy

by Elyse Morris, DMMO Annual Fund Director and Board Liaison Pierre Boulez, French composer and one of the most dominant figures in modern classical music, once said that modern music was born in the opening, ethereal notes of Claude Debussy’s 1894 symphonic poem Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. Whether that was truly the beginning…

Unlocking the visual world of Bluebeard’s Castle

In 2022 our world premiere of A Thousand Acres captivated audiences through the use of immersive projection and video design that had never been seen before on our stage. This summer, our new production of Bluebeard’s Castle took our technology game to a whole new level.  Bluebeard’s Castle was brought to life using some of the world’s most advanced real-time…

It Ain’t Necessarily So

Director Tazewell Thompson explains why he, and the world, still turn to Porgy and Bess “No,” I had initially said when Michael Egel inquired on the opposite end of an email, late 2020, if I was interested and available to direct George and Ira Gershwin’s magnificent opera Porgy and Bess for the summer of 2022….

DMMO’s The Magic Flute provides professional opportunities for area music students and alumni

by Blake Carlson Students and recent alumni of Drake University, Iowa State University and Simpson College will join principal artists on stage as the chorus in The Magic Flute on March 5 and 6 at the Des Moines Civic Center. Many of the students are also employed as covers for principal roles in the production.  …

Lifetime Leaders: Larry and Dorothy Ely

LAUNCHING ANY NEW ARTISTIC ENDEAVOR is risky business. Many moving parts have to be synchronized. The results can be unpredictable and depend on a strong vision with dedicated people willing to rise to the challenge. All of the elements came together beautifully (and quickly) for Des Moines Metro Opera in 1973, in large part because…

In His Own Words

The Beginnings of the Des Moines Metro Opera Company by Robert L. Larsen It always seems to begin with the story of me and opera. As a boy I was interested in great art, music and theatre. I began taking piano lessons when I was 10—but even before that I developed a passion for opera….