Love grows in the Corn Belt

Opera brings people together – be it patrons, communities or a couple separated by the Atlantic Ocean. Gregory Warren and Hester Warren-Steijn met overseas through their careers in opera and now live in two different countries. Opera keeps the married couple connected and brings them here to Indianola two months out of the year to…

Q&A with Sara Gartland

Soprano Sara Gartland returns to Indianola, Iowa, for her fourth summer with DMMO, this time singing the titular role in Antonín Dvořák’s haunting Rusalka. Gartland has a long history with the company, beginning as a member of our Apprentice Artist Program in 2008, as well as mainstage roles as in Regina (2008), Romeo and Juliet (2013)…

Q&A with David Pershall

Hailed by Opera News as having a “warm and expressive lyric baritone,” David Pershall will be making both a role and company debut this festival season as Gabriel von Eisenstein in Johann Strauss II’s bubbly and effervescent operatic comedy, Die Fledermaus. In preparation for opening night on June 23, we asked Pershall a few questions in our third…

Q&A with Susannah Biller

Susannah Biller travels to the Indianola this summer for her second season with DMMO. Previously performing as Eurydice in DMMO’s 2016 production of Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice, Biller returns to the stage as Rosalinda in J. Strauss’s effervescent and sparkling comedy, Die Fledermaus.  In our second artist Q&A of the 46th Festival Season, Susannah Biller answers questions about…

Embracing the Waltz

THE WALTZ MAY SEEM to us the most decorous of dances, but two centuries ago many saw it as the vortex of sin. In 1816 London’s The Times proclaimed its civic duty “to warn every parent against exposing his daughter to so fatal a contagion,” a sentiment that was echoed throughout much of Europe. Hedonistic…

Q&A with Zachary James

“The villain was portrayed with towering force by Zachary James, a giant man with a big black bass to match” – Chicago Tribune “…the most electrifying five minutes I have ever spent in the theater. His rendition was at once deeply personal and overwhelmingly explosive. I walked out at intermission still dizzy with tears in my…

Dvořák’s summer sojourn in Iowa

Antonín Dvořák almost made it to Indianola 125 years ago. He was born 4,762 miles away in Nelahozeves, a village north of Prague, in 1841. As the eldest and a boy, he was expected to follow his father’s professions as a butcher and innkeeper. By 1891 Dvořák had become one of the world’s most famous…

Make Him Laugh!

Notes from Kristine McIntyre, director of Flight:  As a director, you always want the composer to love the show. If the opera is a comedy – a rare thing among modern operas – then the bar feels even higher. You need to make them laugh. So you can imagine how I felt in Austin a few…

Q&A with Chari Kruse

A quick note from the General & Artistic Director: “An opera company is only ever as strong as the people who work behind the scenes to make its performances happen. The sentiment especially applies to the DMMO year round staff members – who are often times the most unsung heroes. Chari Kruse has been one…

Give the gift of opera this holiday season!

Gift an experience that your loved ones will remember for years to come! Give the gift of opera this holiday season by purchasing a flexible DMMO gift certificate package for your friends and family. Our exciting 46th Season truly features a show for everyone. For the newcomer, a ticket to J. Strauss’s bubbly and intoxicating…

A collection of songs by Michael Patterson

Dr. Michael Patterson, longtime festival staff member at DMMO and Simpson College professor, has recently published a remarkable collection of 22 art songs selected from a repertory of compositions spanning over 20 years. The collection features works for high voice, medium-high voice and medium-low voice types. The composer has generously requested that all proceeds raised…

Michael and David Reflect on Season 45

From Michael Egel, General & Artistic Director: After intense months of rehearsals, coachings, meetings, performances and parties, not to mention seven-day weeks, the Blank Performing Arts Center became suddenly quiet on July 17. Just a few days later, Company members were scattered to disperse all over the globe. There were over 225 of us and…