FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA

The FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA

VIOLIN Concertmaster ELIOT HEATON Ann Arbor, MI Assistant Concertmaster LIJIA PHANG Milwaukee, WI Principal Second ELLEN ENSEY Tucson, AZ ZULFIYA BASHIROVA Boca Raton, FL JOHN HELMICH Urbandale, IA CHIA-LI HO Boise, ID JUAN C. JARAMILLO B. Pittsburgh, PA SHENGNAN LI Milwaukee, WI BRAM MARGOLES Birmingham, AL MAGGIE NIEKAMP Cincinnati, OH ALEXANDER NORRIS North Liberty, IA YURI POPOWYCZ Detroit, MI CAROLINE SLACK Chicago, IL SHANSHAN ZENG Beaverton, OR

VIOLA Principal ELIZABETH OKA Silver Spring, MD CHARLES MIRANDA Des Moines, IA CHRISTINE PRINCE Victoria, BC, CAN KURT TSENG Fuquay-Varina, NC

CELLO Principal KEVIN KUNKEL Portland, OR SETH BIAGINI Beaverton, OR HILARY GLEN Bloomington, IN SCHUYLER SLACK North Chesterfield, VA

BASS Principal JEREMY C. BAGUYOS Omaha, NE JOHN TUCK Evanston, IL

PICCOLO Principal LUKE FITZPATRICK Fort Wayne, IN SONJA GILES Ames, IA

FLUTE Principal LUKE FITZPATRICK Fort Wayne, IN SONJA GILES Ames, IA KIMBERLY HELTON Des Moines, IA

OBOE Principal EDUARDO SEPULVEDA Syracuse, NY JENNIFER BLOOMBERG Des Moines, IA ENGLISH HORN Principal EDUARDO SEPULVEDA Syracuse, NY JENNIFER BLOOMBERG Des Moines, IA

CLARINET Principal NATALIE HOE St. Petersburg, FL RANDALL CUNNINGHAM Liberty, MO E-CHEN HSU Thunder Bay, ON, CAN JAMES ROMAIN Des Moines, IA

BASS CLARINET RANDALL CUNNINGHAM Liberty, MO

ALTO SAXOPHONE MICHAEL GILES Ames, IA JAMES ROMAIN Des Moines, IA

TENOR SAXOPHONE BEN CARLSON Ames, IA

BASSOON Principal KRISTY TUCKER Winnipeg, MB, CAN MATT LANO Richmond, VA

HORN Principal ERIN LANO Richmond, VA MICHAEL DALY Savannah, GA JENNA MCBRIDE-HARRIS West St. Paul, MN JACOB WHITE Tiffin, IA

TRUMPET Principal SAMUEL HUSS Richmond, VA DONALD CREECH Greensboro, NC KEVIN TAGUE Cape Girardeau, MO

TROMBONE Principal TIMOTHY HOWE Columbia, MO BENJAMIN HAHN Iowa City, IA

BASS TROMBONE CALEB LAMBERT Iowa City, IA

TUBA Principal MICHAEL SHORT Des Moines, IA

VIOLIN SEATING IS BASED UPON A ROTATION CYCLE FOR MAINSTAGE SHOWS. TIMPANI Principal ANDREW NOWAK Alexandria, VA

PERCUSSION Principal MARK DORR West Des Moines, IA ALINA GRIMM Des Moines, IA CHRISTOPHER LARSON Portland, OR HANNAH WEAVER Omaha, NE

HARP Principal NUIKO WADDEN Pittsburgh, PA TABITHA STEINER Overland Park, KS

BANJO SETH HEDQUIST Des Moines, IA

KEYBOARD TESSA HARTLE Detroit, MI ELDEN LITTLE East Lansing, MI YASUKO OURA Chicago, IL

ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL AND OPERATIONS MANAGER MARK DORR West Des Moines, IA

MUSIC LIBRARIAN CYNTHIA STACY Bloomington, IN

ORCHESTRA INTERN PHINEAS POPE St. Paul, MN

DAVID NEELY

The Marshall and Judy Flapan Music Director and Principal Conductor

Described by Opera News as “a ninja warrior with a baton” for his performance of Berg’s Wozzeck with DMMO, David Neely maintains an active career in concert, opera, and higher education. Previously serving on the conducting faculty of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, he is currently Director of Orchestras at the University of Maryland School of Music.

As Music Director and Principal Conductor of Des Moines Metro Opera, a post he has held since 2012, Neely continues to elevate the company’s musical profile with acclaimed performances of a wide range of repertoire such as Queen of Spades, Billy Budd, Manon, Turandot, Jenůfa, Falstaff, Elektra, Peter Grimes, Dead Man Walking, Macbeth, Don Giovanni, The Girl of the Golden West, Rusalka and Flight. His performances have been praised in publications such as Opera News, Opera Today and the Chicago Tribune.

Neely is equally at home in concert, opera, musical theater and ballet settings. He has appeared as conductor with numerous orchestras, including the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Portland Symphony Orchestra, Bochumer Symphoniker, Dortmunder Philharmoniker, and the Symphonieorchester Vorarlberg. He has led productions with Atlanta Opera, Sarasota Opera, Bonn Opera, Halle Opera, Dortmund Opera, Saarland State Opera, St. Gallen Opera, and the Eutiner Festspiele, among others. He was Associate Music Director of Chicago for the Munich and Basel runs of the current Broadway production. Recent highlights include Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 at the University of Maryland and The Opposable Thumb for the American Lyric Theater in New York. Upcoming highlights include Golijov’s Ainadamar at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

Neely has led many premieres, including the German premiere of Mark Anthony Turnage’s The Silver Tassie, the North American premiere of David Dzubay’s SIJO for orchestra, Robert Orledge’s reconstruction of Debussy’s The Fall of the House of Usher, and world premieres of Arthur Gottschalk’s Four New Brothers, Billy Childs’ Concerto for Horn and Strings, Alexandre Rydin’s Clarinet Concerto, and Maria Newman’s Our Rights and Nothing Less with Carmen Balthrop as narrator. He was part of the mentorship team for Washington National Opera’s 2020-21 American Opera Initiative that culminated in a recorded performance of Damien Geter and Lila Palmer’s American Apollo at the Kennedy Center. He serves as a guest master teacher for WNO’s Cafritz Young Artist Program.