Des Moines Metro Opera Vivace Fall/Winter 2014

Vivace FALL/WINTER 2014

SUBSCRIPTIONS ON SALE NOW

We’re a proud sponsor of Des Moines Metro Opera At the Willis Auto Campus we endeavor to maintain a tradition of automotive excellence and service leadership. We offer a true selection of quality vehicles, while providing the professional service that is both expected and deserved.

The Willis Auto Campus is honored to provide sponsorship to Des Moines Metro Opera. We recognize the importance of this type of cultural enrichment and appreciate the vitality it brings to our community.

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THE LAURIDSEN FAMILY ENDOWMENT IS THE 2015 SEASON PRESENTING SPONSOR

Welcome!

Welcome to the fall 2014 issue of Vivace, Des Moines Metro Opera’s bi-annual newsletter. We are pleased to be able to send you this publication thanks to the City of Indianola, the Indianola Chamber of Commerce and Willis Auto Campus. Their generous sponsorship enables us to provide this beautiful newsletter to you, our subscribers, patrons and friends. I hope that after reading this issue, you will make plans to join us for this year’s upcoming performances and events.

After a robust year that included five new opera productions as well as lectures, events, concerts, parties, rehearsals and educational activities, the 42nd Festival Season closed on July 20. We are pleased to share with our patrons the exciting results of one of our busiest and most active years ever! The previous season continued our commitment to inspire audiences from around our region and the world to make Iowa their choice destination for opera. Patrons joined us from 34 states, two foreign countries, 61 Iowa counties and as far away as the British Isles! Once again, audiences also came to us from every zip code in the Des Moines metro area and our ticket sales exceeded goals and expectations.

Des Moines Metro Opera programming touched the lives of 77,000 individuals this last year through our mainstage productions, broadcasted performances and educational programming. Audience and critical reaction to the season couldn’t have been more positive, with one national critic from Opera Today remarking, “Italy may have something they could learn from Indianola.” All of these successes were accomplished within our customary balanced operating budget and demonstrated our longstanding commitment to achieving artistic excellence within the boundaries of fiscal responsibility.

As the latest installment in our 2nd Stages Series, StageWest Theater Company and Des Moines Metro Opera recently announced a collaborative performance of theatre and music coming this December to mark World AIDS Day 2014. This event will highlight each company’s genre in a double-bill production featuring both a play and an opera! StageWest Theater Company will produce The Baltimore Waltz by Paula Vogel, and Des Moines Metro Opera will produce Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers. Both organizations recognize the power of live performance to be a voice for the most important issues of our time and to serve as a catalyst for awareness in our community.

Now is the time to secure your subscription to our incredible 43rd Summer Festival Season, which highlights master composers in exotic locales. The company also premieres a stirring Czech drama as well as a 2nd Stages Series performance set against the outdoor locale of the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden. Des Moines Metro Opera’s reputation for quality productions extends far and wide with national publications taking increasing note. Subscribing is the best way to experience all that Des Moines Metro Opera has to offer. See page 13 for more information.

People from all over the nation make the trip to the Summer Festival each year. If you haven't subscribed before, it's time for you to find out for yourself what Des Moines Metro Opera is all about!

Michael Egel, General and Artistic Director

CONTENTS 3 A Look Back: THE 42ND FESTIVAL SEASON 5 Three Decembers 7 The 43rd Festival Season Vivace newsletter, Fall/Winter 2014, is published bi-annually by Des Moines Metro Opera, Inc., 106 West Boston Avenue, Indianola, Iowa 50125-1836. Volume 2, Issue 2.

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2ND STAGES SERIES

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CATCHING UP WITH . . .

A MILESTONE ANNIVERSARY / WINE & FOOD SHOWCASE

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PLAN YOUR EXPERIENCE: IOWA

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SAVE THE DATES / TICKET INFO

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A Look Back 2014

WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING:

DEAD MAN WALKING “As the murderer Joseph de Rocher, David Adam Moore is also now surely without equal in this part.”

Opera Today

“In Elise Quagliata, the creators may have found their most powerful Helen yet.”

Opera Today

“This was music- and theatre-making of the highest order.” Opera Today “Off in faraway places, I’m always hearing about our city’s opera.” – Cityview Magazine

LE COMTE ORY LA TRAVIATA

“The extended trio in Adele’s boudoir was an extraordinary stretch of bravura singing and precisely calibrated physical comedy.”

Opera News

“The company has assembled a technically first-rate, beautifully sung mounting of this timeless classic.”

Opera Today

DEAD MAN WALKING “The venue itself was perhaps the most perfect space imaginable to invest the work with such soul-stirring impact. In that moment before we dared break the silence with applause, someone a couple of rows behind me broke out in heaving sobs. I cannot imagine a more powerful production of this engrossing opera.“ Opera Today

LA TRAVIATA

LE COMTE ORY

“The new staging of La Traviata included a deluxe physical production, an expansive and extravagant concept, unique staging features and…a stunning new soprano to cheer to the rafters."

Opera Today

“If you don’t have the means to get to the Rossini festival in Pesaro, you would do just as well to come to Indianola, Iowa, where Des Moines Metro Opera festival has devised a heady production of Le Comte Ory that is as long on belly laughs as it is on musical fireworks.”

Opera Today

“Iowa’s final score—three wins, with two of them blowouts.” Opera News "This was one of the most shattering evenings I have ever spent in a theater."

Opera News

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THREE DECEMBERS Jake Heggie's Three Decembers tackles family tension sung beautifully

BY KRISTINE MCINTYRE, STAGE DIRECTOR

T

here are no more important stories in our lives than the ones that we tell about our own families.

Those family narratives define who we are, where we come from, how we relate to our loved ones and how we define our place in the world. And perhaps the most powerful story of all is the story of a happy childhood.

But what if that story is a lie?

Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers is an emotionally rich and dramatically compelling exploration of just that question. Though smaller in scale than Dead Man Walking, it too revolves around relationships between parents and children, and specifically the common fear of parents that they have not prepared their children for the world and cannot protect them from it. In Three Decembers, Maddy is an absent mother, more at home on the Broadway stage than in the company of her son and daughter. In her misguided love for them, she is also desperate to preserve their memory of their dead father and protect them from the truth she has been hiding their whole lives. That memory of their father—as a benevolent figure in a grey armchair who read and sang to them—is one of her children’s most precious possessions, a happiness they cling to as their adult lives prove difficult and hard to negotiate.

Neither Bea nor Charlie really likes their mother, but they love their dead father in that way that all children love their early heroes. That narrative of a happy home life comes under threat as Maddy’s stories about her husband’s death begin to unravel. And her adult

children are left to answer some hard questions: if my childhood was a lie, then who am I? And if I had known the truth, would everything have been different?

Three Decembers is classic Heggie—intimate in scale, human in focus but written large and broad in scope.

There are only three characters, but Jake also creates the worlds they inhabit, and throughout we feel the presence of the others who are mentioned but never seen: Burt, Charlie’s partner who lives with him in San Francisco and is dying of AIDS, Bea’s unfaithful husband, and of course their mysterious dead father, whom both children struggle to remember but whose loving presence permeates every scene. The drama takes place in personal spaces—dressing rooms, bedrooms, the living room of a small apartment—the places where we have our most intimate conversations and reveal our true selves before we face the world at large. But in the end the world must be faced, the show must go on, and fittingly the final scene takes place where Maddy is at her best and most at home, onstage in front of an audience. Three Decembers reminds us that sometimes the most important battles are the ones we fight in our living rooms and that sometimes the most important stories are the ones we make up for ourselves, no matter if they are true. •

Three Decembers Jake Heggie The Temple for Performing Arts 7:30PM: December 5 & 6 | 2PM: December 7 Janice Hall MADELINE Keith Phares CHARLIE Emily Pulley BEATRICE

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In an effort to expand our connections in the Des Moines community and build new audiences, Des Moines Metro Opera launched the 2nd Stages Series last season. This initiative was designed to inject excitement into live performance by removing it from traditional spaces and placing it in unique and even unorthodox settings in our community.

In December the 2nd Stages Series explores its first ever double-bill collaboration with theater. Des Moines Metro Opera and StageWest Theater Company, in support of World AIDS Day 2014, will perform in the same evening Paula Vogel's award-winning play The Baltimore Waltz and Jake Heggie's critically lauded opera Three Decembers.

The Baltimore Waltz To theatre-goers, the combination of a play and an opera might seem like either an obvious one or a jarring one. They are two similar art forms, yet have two very different ways of conveying a story—and this similaritydisparity relationship also manifests itself in the two titles chosen by Des Moines Metro Opera and StageWest Theater Company.

Like Heggie's Three Decembers, Paula Vogel's play The Baltimore Waltz focuses on family via the interactions of three characters— Carl, his sister Anna, and the mysterious Third Man. However, where Decembers is somber in nature, Waltz is gleefully comic.

Where Decembers is rooted in reality, Waltz is irreverently farcical. Where Decembers shows the unraveling of family bonds, Waltz strengthens them.

This collaboration will also include Primary Health Care, a nonprofit community health center. A portion of the proceeds from this production will be donated to The Project of Primary Health Care, which focuses on providing testing and treatment for HIV/AIDS services.

Because great works of art build bridges into our communities and lives, Des Moines Metro Opera's Staging Connections Series will feature two educational events around this performance and its themes. Both events will be free and open to the public.

The Baltimore Waltz was written by Vogel in response to the 1988 death of her brother Carl, who died from complications due to AIDS. With their long planned European vacation left unrealized with his passing, Waltz is an ode (with attitude) to what should have been, a fantastic voyage seeking romance and a cure for a terminal disease, with their adventures growing more fantastical—as well as heartbreaking—as the play progresses.

There's no doubt that writing it was a personal voyage for Vogel as well, and her passion was rewarded with an Obie Award in 1992 for "Best New American Play."

NOVEMBER 15 “EVERYONE HAS A NAME” ART EXHIBIT Prairie Meadows Gallery, Rasmussen Center, Grand View University, 7PM “But, everyone has a name,” says Charlie in Three Decembers. This powerful line about compassion in the face of adversity will be interpreted by Grand View University students in this juried multimedia exhibit and reception.

December is a month in which family conventions and ties—no matter how different or similar— are often brought to the forefront. These themes lie at the heart of this collaboration. By centering it around World AIDS Day, Des Moines Metro Opera, StageWest Theater Company and The Project of Primary Health Care hope to convey that while all families and ties may not be conventional they are just as important. •

DECEMBER 4 COMMUNITY WORLD AIDS DAY POETRY EVENT Des Moines Social Club, 6-7:30PM A night of poetry by local student poets, personal stories of individuals living with HIV, and a look at the HIV epidemic presented by local experts. Hosted by Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc-Des Moines Alumnae Chapter and includes community partners Run DSM, The Project of Primary Health Care, Des Moines Metro Opera and Polk County Health Department.

For more information about The Baltimore Waltz, visit stagewestiowa.com.

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43RD FESTIVAL SEASON

MOZART

The Abduction from the Seraglio

PUCCINI

The Girl of the Golden West

JUNE 26-JULY 19, 2015

Jenůfa

Enthusiasm for opera in Des Moines continues to grow, and so does our ticket base! We are grateful to the many subscribers and donors who make our intimate theatre their home every June and July.

They are delighted, moved and transformed by the unique power of live opera sung by some of the most remarkable talent of our time. Because we share the belief that a great city is defined by the vibrancy, diversity and health of its arts organizations, Des Moines Metro Opera continues to be Central Iowa’s premier destination for stunning vocalism and professional theatre each year.

We invite you to Des Moines Metro Opera for our 43rd Summer Festival Season which contains an exuberant mix of styles—from classic comedy to powerful drama. In addition to a fantastic season of opera, subscribers enjoy the very best perks: BEST SEATS First access to great seats long before single tickets go on sale.

BEST VALUE Savings of as much as 25% off the cost of comparable single tickets!

FREE EXCHANGES So it’s easy to be flexible when your schedule changes.

ACCESS TO “ADD ON” TICKETS Be first in line for our 2nd Stages Series performances which sell out quickly!

ORIGINAL PRICE ASSURANGE If prices for single tickets go up during the season, your discount will always be applied to the original published price.

EVENING SHOWS June 26 | July 3 | July 11 SUNDAY MATINEES June 28 | July 19 Set against the exotic backdrop of the Ottoman Empire, Belmonte, a Spanish nobleman, has been separated from the woman he loves by pirates. He tracks Kostanze to Turkey, where she is enslaved by the Pasha Selim. This humorous tale brilliantly plays on the timeless human foibles that still make Mozart's work ring true. Mozart was said to have been delighted with the colorful and lighthearted story from the very beginning and he lavished on it some of his finest music. Originally premiered only a month before his happy marriage to his own Constanze, The Abduction from the Seraglio returns to the Summer Festival Season repertory in a vibrant and highly theatrical new production!

SUBSCRIPTION PACKAGES ON SALE OCTOBER 2!

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JANÁČEK

EVENING SHOWS June 27 | July 14 | July 17 MATINEES July 4 (Saturday) | July 12 (Sunday) Giacomo Puccini, the composer of Madama Butterfly and Turandot, was never shy when it came to writing operas with exotic settings—or settings exotic to European audiences—and here his gorgeous melodies and blazing orchestral colors come face-to-face with a mining camp during the California Gold Rush in America's Wild West. Like the locale of the story, the central character of Minnie was also something new for Puccini. But unlike the doomed leading ladies of his other operas, this one's a tough cookie. When the pistol-wielding saloon owner finds herself in a love triangle with a handsome outlaw and the sheriff in hot pursuit of him, she takes her gun and her fate firmly in hand and nothing, not horses, hangmen, nor a highstakes poker game, can keep her from finding true love.

EVENING SHOWS July 7 | July 10 | July 16 | July 18 SUNDAY MATINEE July 5 The story of Jenůfa and her stepmother is set within the confines of a Moravian community where rivalry, jealousy and social control first lead to tragedy, but ultimately the strength of the human spirit and the power of forgiveness triumph. Leoš Janáček’s third opera, based on the powerful play by Gabriela Preissová, is best known as Jenůfa, but by giving it the subtitle Her Stepdaughter, the composer underlined the importance of the role of the stepmother Kostelnička. This iconic and demanding role will be taken on by audience favorite Brenda Harris—who will be joined by Joyce Castle as the Grandmother Buryjovka. Laced with folk traditions, Jenůfa has become an operatic masterpiece in part because its music glows from within. With the company premiere of this devastating, yet stunningly beautiful drama, DMMO presents the work that assured Janáček’s operatic fame.

Catching up with...

A PORTFOLIO OF COLLABORATIONS

Gotham Chamber Opera/Richard Termine

THE BALTIMORE WALTZ/THREE DECEMBERS December 2014 Des Moines Metro Opera and StageWest Theater Company are proud to announce a collaborative double-bill production this December in support of World AIDS Day 2014. The works chosen focus on families coming to terms with the effects of the AIDS crisis. Des Moines Metro Opera will produce Jake Heggie’s opera Three Decembers and StageWest Theater Company will produce the play The Baltimore Waltz by Paula Vogel. At each performance you will see both shows.

RAPPACCINI'S DAUGHTER July 2015 Des Moines Metro Opera will offer Rappaccini’s Daughter by Daniel Catán at the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden. Utilizing the gorgeous backdrop of the newly created Celebration Lawn, the opera brings to life the short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne. A doctor seeks to protect his daughter by keeping her locked in a garden where he experiments with poisonous plants. When a young student falls in love with her, he is faced with the knowledge that pursuing their love will surely lead to his death. Tickets go on sale on March 2, 2015.

THE TRAGEDY OF CARMEN July 2014 A reimagined version of this timeless operatic classic, The Tragedy of Carmen presented the most famous musical moments of the original, but in a raw and visceral streamlined version. Des Moines Metro Opera performed the piece three times at the newly opened Des Moines Social Club in the Kum & Go Theater. Each performance was sold out and approximately 20% of the audience included new or re-engaged opera attendees.

AMAHL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS December 2013 Dedicated to the memory of community leader and past Des Moines Metro Opera Board of Directors President Wendy Waugaman, Hoyt Sherman Place was the perfect backdrop for the holiday favorite Amahl and the Night Visitors. The three performances over the first weekend of December in 2013 were seen by over 1,200 patrons and attracted many new attendees, including numerous families and children.

Central City Opera/Mark Kiryluk

Des Moines Metro Opera understands that efforts to build new audiences for musical and theatrical performances are enhanced when organizations travel outside the walls of their traditional performance spaces. Doing so injects a new level of excitement into live performance and demonstrates the power of creative community collaboration. In order to build our capacity to serve a growing and diverse demographic, the 2nd Stages Series was designed to engage new opera-goers in creative spaces around our community. Conceived as an expansion of the company’s very successful Summer Festival Season, the 2nd Stages Series builds on Des Moines Metro Opera’s rapidly expanding capacity as a true community partner and will expose audiences to this remarkable art form through operatic presentations in unorthodox spaces.

Des Moines Metro Opera's efforts to identify important vocal talent have caught the attention of national critics. Here's a sampling of what those critics are saying about our artists as well as highlights from upcoming engagements for them:

SYDNEY MANCASOLA (Comtesse, Le Comte Ory, 2014) "Rising star Sydney Mancasola offered cascades of spot-on vocalizing. Her immaculate coloratura was matched by her poised stage presence." -Opera Today. Sydney debuts this year at Florida Grand Opera in The Pearl Fishers and The Daughter of the Regiment at Palm Beach Opera.

JOYCE EL-KHOURY (Magda, La Rondine, 2012) "El-Khoury enjoyed a great success as Magda, offering exquisite pianissimos in Act I's hit tune."

-Opera News. This season Joyce debuts at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City in La Traviata, then travels to Vancouver for Die Fledermaus. Next summer she sings the title role in Picker's Emmeline in Saint Louis.

TAYLOR STAYTON (Comte Ory, Le Comte Ory, 2014) "With his performance here, Mr. Stayton has announced that he is deserving to be numbered on the short list of Rossini all-stars."

-Opera Today. Taylor follows an appearance at the Metropolitan Opera last spring with Opera Philadelphia's The Barber of Seville and Lyric Opera of Kansas City's The Italian Girl in Algiers.

DAVID ADAM MOORE (Joseph, Dead Man Walking, 2014) “As the murderer Joseph de Rocher, David Adam Moore is now surely without equal in this part.” -Opera News. This spring David makes a role debut singing the title role in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin for Arizona Opera. Summer 2016 he will debut in a world premiere at the Salzburg Festival.

JOHN MOORE (Onegin, Eugene Onegin, 2012) "Moore's lovely baritone resonated with great lyrical beauty in the role." -Opera News. This season John sings Morales in Carmen and Papageno in The Magic Flute at the Metropolitan Opera. He makes his Atlanta Opera debut this spring in The Marriage of Figaro. A Seattle Opera debut is on the horizon.

CRAIG VERM (Mercutio, Romeo et Julliete, 2013) "Verm threatened to dominate his every scene, his throbbing baritone powerfully utilized to entertain us mightily." -Opera Today. This summer Craig took on Eugene Onegin at the Aspen Festival. This spring he stars in world premiere of Dallas Opera's Everest and Florentine Opera's Elmer Gantry.

MICHAEL MAYES (Giovanni, Don Giovanni, 2012) "Michael Mayes traded in his habitually genial persona for a skillful portrait of the enigmatic Don." -Opera News. Following his role debut in Rigoletto at Boston Lyric Opera, Michael takes on the Sharpless in Madama Butterfly for the Detroit Opera this fall.

SARA GARTLAND (Juliette, Romeo et Juliette, 2013) "Sara Gartland's Juliette was wondrously sung." -Opera Today. Sara sang Adina in The Elixir of Love for Austin Lyric Opera last spring and later this season she returns to San Diego Opera for Musetta in La Bohème and debuts as Marzelline in Fidelio with Opera Omaha.

MARJORIE OWENS (Donna Anna, Don Giovanni, 2012) "Marjorie Owens delivered a marvelous Donna Anna, with all the power for Or Sai Chi l'onore and coloratura finesse for Non mi dir." -Opera News. The Dresden Staatsoper has seen Marjorie in a list of operas: Ariadne auf Naxos, Tannhauser, The Flying Dutchman and many more. This spring she returns to the Metropolitan Opera for the title role in Aïda.

JOYCE CASTLE (Klytemnästra, Elektra, 2013) "I have seen some heavy-hitters take on this pivotal role over the years, but Joyce Castle is as fine a Klytemnästra as you will likely ever see." -Opera Today. Before returning to DMMO for Jenüfa next summer, Joyce will be at the Houston Grand Opera in A Little Night Music and the Pittsburgh Opera for The Daughter of the Regiment.

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PLAN YOUR EXPERIENCE Ames Chapter of the Des Moines A Milestone Anniversary: The Metro Opera Guild celebrates 25 years Unique among local arts organizations and regional opera companies, Des Moines Metro Opera is particularly proud of our guild chapters, whose rosters include over 400 members encompassing a 150-mile radius from our home offices. The company would not be able to generate the statewide reach and scope of activities without the tireless work from its four chapters in Ames, Des Moines, Indianola and Newton/Pella. One of those chapters is celebrating a special occasion this year!

Twenty-five years ago, Jaime Reyes and Anita Beal, two friends with a lifelong love of opera, organized an initial meeting of the guild at the Ames Public Library. Jaime originally called 240 ticket buyers in the Ames area to invite them to that first meeting, but only two other people showed up! “Since nobody came, I found addresses, wrote 240 postcards and mailed a second invitation. Four people came.” said Reyes. “These few people fortunately loved opera in addition to being infected by my enthusiasm. We formed a perfect and strong bond that proved to be the basis for what is now a great guild.” Needless to say, others quickly joined them in support of their common interest in learning more about this remarkable art form. The Ames Chapter now numbers 85 members who come from all walks of life—many of whom have connections to Iowa State University.

Today the chapter is very active, hosting monthly programs while also scheduling several fundraising and fellowship events. However, the heart of the chapter has always been their open-to-the-public monthly meeting on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at St. John’s Episcopal Center near the campus. Each meeting usually focuses on the upcoming Summer Festival Season presented by a chapter member or an opera professional, then concludes with a buffet of savory refreshments. For the last five years Bernie and Linda White, longtime chapter members and Guild Council co-presidents, have organized the chapter’s largest fundraising event Arias in Ames, which showcases the talents of the OPERA Iowa Educational Touring Troupe. Over 200 people attended last spring (pictured above) and this year’s concert is scheduled for Sunday, April 12, at 2pm.

Founder Reyes continues to be actively involved, serving this year as Programs chair alongside current President Dilys Morris. Des Moines Metro Opera congratulates the Ames Chapter on this remarkable occasion and we look forward to another great year of education, events and fellowship as they mark this anniversary. More information on any of our guild chapters, including how to join or obtain a schedule of events can be found at desmoinesmetroopera.org/education-and-community/ dmmo-guild-events or by calling (515) 961-6221. •

WINE & FOOD SHOWCASE FEBRUARY 20, 2015

REGULAR TICKET $50/person ADVANCE TICKET $40/person VIP TICKET $100/person (Access to VIP Club and admission to the Grand Tasting) Visit desmoinesmetroopera.org or call 515-961-6221 for tickets or more information.

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INDIANOLA Home to Des Moines Metro Opera, Indianola is also home to Simpson College and a historic downtown square with bluegrass, a bike night, dining and shopping. It also has a farmers' market, wineries, parks, a balloon museum and other activities and events to experience during DMMO's festival season. visitindianola.com

MADISON COUNTY The county that spawned a book, an apple and a film legend! Home to the world-famous “Bridges of Madison County," the birthplace of John Wayne, and the Red Delicious apple, Madison County also has music, crafts, festivals and covered bridge tours only a half hour from Indianola. madisoncounty.com

NEWTON Less than an hour from Indianola, the family friendly city of Newton is home to the NASCAR-owned Iowa Speedway and the Maytag Dairy Farms. It also has numerous summer activities, such as shopping, museums, crafts, a beautiful arboretum and botanical gardens, activities on the square, and a drive-in theater. visitnewton.com

AMES Only an hour away from Indianola, Ames is the home of Iowa State University.

In addition to the many activities and events associated with the school, the city also houses festivals, museums, a historic district, farmers' markets, wineries and the 17-acre Reiman Gardens among other various attractions. visitames.com

DES MOINES MARRIOTT DOWNTOWN

VIP PRE-EVENT ACCESS 4:30 - 5:30PM GRAND TASTING 5:30 - 8:30PM

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Mark your calendars now for Des Moines Metro Opera’s Wine & Food Showcase! This annual food and beverage convention is the oldest in the area and has become a yearly favorite for foodies, oenophiles and brew fans alike.

Featuring more than 40 of the area’s finest restaurants, caterers, wineries, distilleries, breweries and distributors, the Wine & Food Showcase has become the premier event of its kind in Des Moines and Des Moines Metro Opera’s signature fundraiser.

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2014-15

THE

SAVE DATES NOVEMBER 7 OVERTURE 5:30-8:00PM MOBERG GALLERY 2921 Ingersoll Avenue Des Moines, IA Join Des Moines Metro Opera and friends as we kick off the season! Enjoy a musical preview of the 43rd Season and delectables from Catering DSM. RSVP requested 515-961-6221 or dmmo@dmmo.org

OCTOBER IOWA PUBLIC RADIO’S "OPERA IN OCTOBER" SERIES Verdi's La Traviata: 10/4 - 7:00PM & 10/5 - 8:00PM Heggie's Dead Man Walking: 10/11 - 7:00PM & 10/12 - 8:00PM Rossini’s Le Comte Ory: 10/18 - 7:00PM & 10/19 - 8:00PM For more information, visit iowapublicradio.org.

JANUARY 2015 SYDNEY MANCASOLA RECITAL Date and location announced in late fall $25/person Enjoy a recital and reception hosted by the Des Moines Guild Chapter with the soprano who amazed audiences and critics alike as the Countess Adele in Le Comte Ory. Tickets online or at the door.

43RD FESTIVAL SEASON

JUNE 13 THREADS & TRILLS COSTUME SHOW AND LUNCHEON Embassy Club West, 12:00 noon $40/person

JUNE 26-JULY 19, 2015

Get a sneak peek at the costumes from the festival season and be treated to an excellent meal while enjoying arias and duets sung by principal artists.

The Abduction from the Seraglio PUCCINI The Girl of the Golden West JANÁČEK Jenůfa

MOZART

JUNE 18 & 20 PEANUT BUTTER & PUCCINI Blank Performing Arts Center, 11:00AM $10/person Our annual family opera adventure includes a kid-friendly opera, a peanut butter sack lunch and a backstage tour of the theatre.

JUNE 27 GOLD RUSH GALA Hubbell Hall, Simpson College Campus, 5:00PM $125/person Experience the Gold Rush Gala followed by the opening night performance of Puccini’s The Girl of the Golden West and the party after! Opera tickets can be purchased separately. Western finery encouraged and admired.

JULY 15 STARS OF TOMORROW Sheslow Auditorium, Drake University, 7:00PM $25/adults, $10/students Apprentice Artists and Festival Orchestra members present duets and ensembles. Tickets include a dessert reception following the concert.

Times and dates are subject to change. Call 515-961-6221 or visit desmoinesmetroopera.org for information or tickets.

FOR TICKETS

Purchase online at desmoinesmetroopera.org or call 515-961-6221 and use code: VIVACE43

2015 SUBSCRIPTION SERIES A1 Friday 6/26 or 7/3 | 7/10 | 7/17 Saturday 6/27 or 7/4 | 7/11 | 7/18 Sunday 6/28 or 7/19 | 7/5 | 7/12 Weekend 2 7/3 | 7/4 | 7/5 Weekend 3 7/10 | 7/11 | 7/12 Weekend 4 7/17 | 7/18 | 7/19 Build-Your-Own

A

B

C

$240 $205 $180 $120 $245 $215 $185 $130 $245 $215 $185 $130 $230 $195 $170 $120 $230 $195 $170 $120 $230 $195 $170 $120 $245 $215 $185 $130

VOGEL The

Baltimore Waltz/HEGGIE Three Decembers CATÁN Rappaccini’s Daughter

SINGLE TICKETS (on sale Feb. 21) 6/26 | 6/27 | 6/28 | 7/7 | 7/14 | 7/16

$82 $70 $58 $46

7/3 | 7/4 | 7/5 | 7/10 | 7/11 | 7/12 7/17 | 7/18 | 7/19

$95 $80 $66 $49

2ND STAGES SERIES Waltz/Decembers 12/5 | 12/6 | 12/7 Rappaccini's Daughter 7/9 | 7/12 BLANK PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, located on Simpson College campus, Indianola, IA

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$50 General Seating Tickets available March 2, 2015

Tickets for The Baltimore Waltz/Three Decembers are general seating and can be purchased through Des Moines Metro Opera or Ticketmaster at ticketmaster.com.

SEASON SUBSCRIPTIONS ON SALE NOW! DESMOINESMETROOPERA.ORG 515-961-6221

Change Service Requested

Des Moines Metro Opera, Inc. 106 West Boston Avenue Indianola, IA 50125-1836

Visit: desmoinesmetroopera.org Watch: youtube.com/user/DesMoinesMetroOpera Like: facebook.com/DesMoinesMetroOpera Follow: twitter.com/dmopera

THE TEMPLE THEATER AT THE TEMPLE FOR PERFORMING ARTS 1011 Locust Street, Downtown Des Moines 7:30PM Dec 5 | Dec 6 2:00PM Dec 7 Visit desmoinesmetroopera.org or call 515-961-6221 to purchase tickets.