Spotlight: Chérie and Bob Shreck

From Opera Guests To Opera Pillars

BY BLAKE CARLSON

“Is this one of those operas where they all end up dead?” Bob Shreck whispered as the curtain went up on DMMO’s 1983 production of Lucia di Lammermoor

A lifelong Des Moines resident, Bob had recently returned to the area to establish a private practice after his time in medical school and the U.S. Army. Almost by reflex, he’d agreed to an invite to Des Moines Metro Opera earlier that year from his former medical school classmate Mike Richards. He’d never been to the opera before and didn’t have a good enough excuse to back out.

Bob’s wife Chérie, on the other hand, was delighted.

As a third grader in West Des Moines, Chérie was entranced by the overture to Carmen on a field trip to the symphony; and soon after, would sit in front of her family’s small black and white TV, libretto in her lap, watching a full-length broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera. It’s been her favorite opera ever since.

However at the final curtain of Lucia di Lammermoor in 1983 it was Bob, not Chérie, who was “sobbing uncontrollably” in the front row.

And the rest is history.

Soon after that first evening, Bob was recruited to serve on the DMMO Board of Directors—a short-lived appointment as he had a medical practice out of town and couldn’t attend monthly meetings. It wasn’t long before he received a call inquiring if Chérie might be a better candidate. Chérie officially joined the Board of Directors in 1988 and got right to work. It was a pivotal moment in the company’s history after the sudden death of General Director Doug Duncan. One of her first duties was helping select the new Executive Director, Jerilee Mace.

In 1992 and 1993 Chérie partnered with Daniel Krumm (pictured below, with Doris Salsbury) in the establishment and initial fundraising for the Des Moines Metro Opera Foundation—the first of its kind for an arts organization in Iowa. In 1994, while serving as board president, Chérie and

Bob attended every performance of every production for the entire season. Each night they brought a new couple to attend a performance with them in an effort to recruit new fans to DMMO, just as Mike Richards had done for them only a decade earlier. The season also featured Chérie and Bob’s all-time favorite performance at DMMO with Gwendolyn Jones in the title role of Carmen (production photo on Carmen spread).

Over nearly four decades, Chérie has served in a leadership role for every capital and endowment-building campaign the company has ever undertaken. She served as president of the Des Moines Guild Chapter and was recognized as a National Opera Trustee by OPERA America for her distinguished service. She is a recent inductee of the DMMO Honorary Board of Directors. In 2020 Bob began serving on DMMO’s Medical Advisory Panel, continuing to advise the company through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bob and Chérie credit DMMO’s long-standing success to the company’s attention to detail: from the quality of its productions to the dedication of its staff. They are proud to share their love for opera and DMMO with their children and now their grandchildren—developing a new generation of opera fans.

And, of course, they wait in anticipation for the 2023 season—when Carmen will once again take the stage in Indianola.