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 of “The Garden of Love” in her 4th grade choir. “A sort of haunting song, but very beautiful. This was a sort of gateway for me to really become interested in music in middle school,” she recalls.
A subsequent obsession with The Phantom of the Opera (“even though it’s a musical”) led her to discover opera. She began taking voice lessons in high school, and during a trip to Munich with her German class she saw her first opera, Madama Butterfly. “It was a completely surreal experience,” she says. “At the time I think I was too overwhelmed to fully take it all in.”
Rumer stayed in Iowa after high school to attend Luther College in Decorah. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts, she headed to New York for her Master of Music at the Manhattan School of Music. Before she could start her career in opera, however, the pandemic struck, and like many across the country, Rumer found herself moving back to the sanctuary of home. There, she found herself drawn into the world of banking out of necessity and was the Retail Coordinator with Raccoon Valley Bank when she caught her first DMMO opera, The Magic Flute at the Des Moines Civic Center. “I loved the production—with the amazing lighting, effects and staging,” Rumer says. “It’s very inspiring to see such a high caliber of opera brought to life here in Iowa.” While she appreciated what she had learned from her job in banking, the experience made her realize “it was time for me to get back to the world of music.”
When Rumer isn’t working, she’s camping, flyfishing or playing video games. As a lover of the fantasy genre, as well as an amateur seamstress, she also enjoys crafting costumes for the renaissance faires she attends. But music and singing are her first loves, and Rumer looks forward to experiencing her first festival season this summer. “I know it will just be amazing being around so much music and artistry. It will go fast, but I hope to enjoy it as much as I can.”
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