Des Moines Symphony

Last updated
Des Moines Symphony
Orchestra
Founded1937
Concert hall Civic Center of Greater Des Moines
Principal conductorJoseph Giunta
Website dmsymphony.org

The Des Moines Symphony (DMSO [1] ) is a United States symphony orchestra based in Des Moines, Iowa. The current conductor is Joseph Giunta. Established in 1937 as the Des Moines Civic Orchestra, the orchestra performs both Masterworks and Pops concerts as well as Iowa's largest single-day concert event, Yankee Doodle Pops. The orchestra principally performs at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines located in downtown Des Moines.

Contents

History

The Symphony was founded as the Des Moines Civic Orchestra. After a decade of efforts to form a permanent group, it performed its first concert at Hoyt Sherman Place on November 21, 1937, as a joint effort between community and Drake University musicians. Drake professor Frank Noyes served as conductor, beginning a 30-season tenure as conductor.

For 1938, it moved to Theodore Roosevelt High School. It stayed at Roosevelt until 1948, when it moved to the KRNT Theater in downtown Des Moines. In 1954, concerts returned to Hoyt Sherman for three years before moving to North High School in 1957. Noyes retired in 1967, succeeded by a series of conductors who each served for two or three years before Yuri Krasnapolsky assumed the position in 1974. In addition, for the 1967–68 season, the classical season was expanded from four to five performances. In 1969, plans were made to dissolve official ties with Drake University, which would occur by 1974.

Krasnapolsky oversaw the doubling of the classical season, from five concerts to six concert pairs, for the 1977–78 season. He also oversaw the transition to the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines in 1979, the Symphony's home ever since. The classical season was expanded again for the 1982–83 season to its current seven concert pairs. [2]

Joseph Giunta assumed the role of conductor and musical director in 1989. Under Giunta, the Orchestra has established an outstanding national reputation as one of the country's leading regional orchestras, performing a regular series of Masterworks, Pops, Family, and Education Concerts, as well as performing for special events. With the establishment in 2003 of the Des Moines Symphony Academy, the organization is one of only a handful of American orchestras to sponsor an Academy of Music as an integral part of its core mission and the Symphony and Academy together are now the largest employer of professional artists in Iowa. [3] The academy had 410 students enrolled in 2012. [4]

All of the Masterworks programs are broadcast statewide on Iowa Public Radio.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Des Moines, Iowa</span> Capital and largest city of Iowa, United States

Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857. It is located on, and named after, the Des Moines River, which likely was adapted from the early French name, Rivière des Moines, meaning "River of the Monks". The city's population was 214,133 as of the 2020 census. The six-county metropolitan area is ranked 83rd in terms of population in the United States with 699,292 residents according to the 2019 estimate by the United States Census Bureau, and is the largest metropolitan area fully located within the state.

The music of Iowa includes such notable musicians as Rock and Roll Hall of Famers The Everly Brothers, Bix Beiderbecke, Art Farmer, Peggy Gilbert, Patty Waters, Mortimer Wilson, Thurlow Lieurance, Charlie Haden, Arthur Russell, Greg Brown, William Elliott Whitmore, Clarence Whitehill, Andy Williams, Meredith Willson, composer of The Music Man, and Alice Ettinger who was renowned enough to perform in Europe in the 1890s. Famed swing era musician and band leader Glenn Miller was born in Clarinda. Rock and metal bands from Iowa include For Today, Euforquestra, The Envy Corps, The Cassandra Disease, Hawks, Slipknot, Stone Sour, Radio Moscow, Modern Life Is War, and Unknown Component. The city of Walnut is home to the National Traditional Country Music Association (NTCMA), which produces programs for local radio and television in Iowa. NTCMA also operates the Walnut Country Opera House, which is a theatre and home to several halls of fame and museums. The town of Clear Lake is known as the place the Big Bopper, Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens took off from on the day they died; their last performance was at the Surf Ballroom. The Escorts are one of the first bands to be inducted into the Iowa Rock N Roll Music Association's Hall of Fame. Sioux City brought to the National scene The Velaires, and rocker Tommy Bolin. Also from Iowa is Black Iowegian heavy blues artist John-Paul Jones Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra</span>

The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra located in Buffalo, New York led by Music Director JoAnn Falletta. Its primary performing venue is Kleinhans Music Hall, which is a National Historic Landmark. Each season it presents over 120 classical series, pops, rock, youth, and family concerts. During the summer months, the orchestra performs at parks and outdoor venues across Western New York.

The Maryland Symphony Orchestra is an American professional orchestra based in Hagerstown, Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oregon Symphony</span> Orchestra based in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

The Oregon Symphony is an American symphony orchestra based in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded as the 'Portland Symphony Society' in 1896, it is the sixth oldest orchestra in the United States, and oldest in the Western United States. Its home venue is the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in downtown Portland's Cultural District.

The Tucson Symphony Orchestra, or TSO, is the primary professional orchestra of Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1928, when the season consisted of just two concerts, the TSO is the oldest continuously running performing arts organization in the Southwest. The TSO's season now runs from September to May and consists of over 60 concerts, including a Classics Series of eight programs, a Pops Series of four programs, a Masterworks series of five chamber orchestra programs, a number of one-night only specials, and run-out concerts to surrounding areas, such as Oro Valley, Green Valley, Bisbee, Safford, Thatcher, and Nogales. The TSO also provides educational programming that reaches over 40,000 school children each season. Within the TSO are a number of standing chamber ensembles, including a string quartet, string quintet, piano trio, harp trio, brass quintet, and woodwind quintet. These ensembles help provide educational programming through school visits, perform recitals annually, and also perform at private and community events.

The Richmond Symphony is based in Richmond, Virginia and is the largest performing arts organization in Central Virginia and one of the nation's leading regional orchestras. The organization includes a full-time orchestra with more than 70 musicians, the Richmond Symphony Chorus with 150 volunteer members, and the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra programs with more than 260 student participants. Each season, approximately 200,000 community members enjoy live concerts and radio broadcasts by the Richmond Symphony, and 55,000 students and teachers participate in the Symphony's educational outreach programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida Orchestra</span> Non-profit organisation in the USA

The Florida Orchestra is an American orchestra based in the tri-city area of Tampa, Clearwater and St. Petersburg, Florida. It was founded as the Florida Gulf Coast Symphony upon the 1968 merger of the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra and the Tampa Philharmonic. The present name was adopted in 1984.

The Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1947, is an orchestra located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. The orchestra performs at the Theater for Performing Arts in the Baton Rouge River Center.

Paul van Katwijk was a Dutch-American pianist, conductor, composer, and music educator. He was an important figure in the classical music culture of Dallas, Texas, for much of the 20th century. He served as the music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for eleven years.

Founded in 1944, the Wichita Symphony Orchestra (WSO) is the oldest professional Symphony Orchestra in Kansas, performing out of Century II Concert Hall in downtown Wichita.

The Dubuque Symphony Orchestra is a non-union, fully professional orchestra located in Dubuque, Iowa. It serves the residents of Dubuque and its surrounding tri-state area which includes 12 counties in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin. Under Music Director William Intriligator, over 75 professional musicians perform a repertoire of classical, chamber, opera and pops concerts each year. The DSO performs an average of 12 different concerts a year with a total of 25 performances.

The Rockford Symphony Orchestra is a symphony orchestra in Rockford, Illinois, USA. Now in its 80th season, the orchestra is the third largest orchestra in the state of Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windsor Symphony Orchestra</span> Canadian orchestra

The Windsor Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra located in Windsor, Ontario. The orchestra performs in South Western Ontario, playing both classical and popular music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quad City Symphony Orchestra</span>

The Quad City Symphony Orchestra (QCSO) is a United States symphony orchestra based in Davenport, Iowa, and representing the Quad Cities area. The current music director and conductor is Mark Russell Smith. Established in 1916, the orchestra has a full season, performing six Masterworks series concerts, three pops concerts, and five signature series chamber concerts. The 96-member orchestra principally performs at two venues: the Adler Theater, located in Davenport, Iowa and Centennial Hall on the campus of Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. The Riverfront Pops Concert in early September is held at the W.D. Petersen Memorial Music Pavilion in LeClaire Park on the Davenport riverfront. Its Holiday Pops Concert is performed at the Adler Theater. The signature series concerts are held in a more intimate setting, often at the Figge Art Museum. It also maintains four ensembles for local youth and conducts extensive outreach in area schools.

The Greenville Symphony Orchestra, often referred to simply as the Greenville Symphony, is an American symphony orchestra based in Greenville, South Carolina. Its home is located in the heart of downtown Greenville next to the Peace Center.

Willis Page, was a musician and symphony orchestra conductor. He conducted three major US orchestras – in Nashville, Tennessee, Des Moines, Iowa, and Jacksonville, Florida. He was also the associate conductor in Buffalo, New York, where he conducted three quarters of all concerts and has been guest conductor for several orchestras including the Boston Pops Orchestra, Denver, St Louis, Rochester, Hartford, Muncie, Yomiuri, Toronto and Jerusalem. He was the first US conductor of a major Japanese symphony orchestra, the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra. He was the first conductor to hire black musicians in a classical orchestra in the USA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princeton Symphony Orchestra</span>

The Princeton Symphony Orchestra is a professional U.S. orchestra based in Princeton, New Jersey. Rossen Milanov has been music director since 2009, leading the orchestra in critically acclaimed performances. All orchestra concerts take place at the 900-seat Richardson Auditorium Richardsonian Romanesque, a historic concert hall located on the campus of Princeton University.

The Colorado Springs Philharmonic is a professional orchestra based in Southern Colorado.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Des Moines Women's Club</span> Historic Womens Association in Des Moines, Iowa

The Des Moines Women's Club, founded in 1885 as the women's club movement swept through the United States, today serves the Des Moines community by providing scholarships, support for the local arts community, and other civic projects.

References

  1. Halbloom, Jacqueline (June 24, 2015). "DMSO's 22nd Yankee Doodle Pops Celebrates Iowa's Musical Heritage". Iowa Public Radio.
  2. "History". Des Moines Symphony. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  3. "Orchestra". Des Moines Symphony. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  4. Morain, Michael (March 18, 2012). "Vital Signs: Heading into its 75th year Des Moines Symphony remains remarkably good health" . Des Moines Register . p. E1. Retrieved March 16, 2018.