"Planned giving" is a term that you hear a lot, but what is planned giving? In the simplest terms, these are donations made to DMMO's endowment, rather than to the annual fund raising campaign, to help secure its financial future through wills, life insurance or other giving tools. Working with their attorneys or financial planners, donors often choose one of these giving vehicles to maximize their giving potential while minimizing the taxes owed.

The Des Moines Metro Opera Foundation was established in 1992 with a $1,000,000 challenge gift from Doris and John Salsbury. A second challenge gift from the Salsburys in 2006 was instrumental in growing DMMO's endowment to its current size of $12,000,000. A Board of Trustees directs the Endowment with the purpose of supporting the programs and services of Des Moines Metro Opera, Inc.

There are many ways to support the Des Metro Opera Foundation including a gift or pledge of cash, a gift of insurance, a bequest under your will, or income for life plans. Making a gift to the Foundation is a simple process. Our professional staff will be happy to assist you in your planning.

Types of Planned Giving

• A pledge or gift of cash
• Bequests to the Foundation: Bequests to the Foundation can be done by inserting a specific provision in your will or as a codicil to your will. This can be for a specific dollar amount or for a percentage of your estate. These bequests are free of estate, inheritance or gift taxes.
• Life Insurance: You may name the Foundation as beneficiary to your life insurance. By doing so your gift would be free of gift or estate taxes. You may also transfer ownership of a life insurance policy to the Foundation. You can take charitable income-tax deductions for all premiums you subsequently pay on the policy.
• Naming the Foundation as a beneficiary of your IRA or other Retirement Plan: These assets, if unspent by the time of your death, can be subject to multiple income, estate, and excise taxes, which could consume more than 80% of you retirement assets. By naming the Foundation as a beneficiary of these assets, your taxes on these assets would be drastically reduced.
• Income for Life Plans: These plans provide a number of tax advantages, while providing income for one or more lives and a tax-deductible gift to the Foundation. These plans can be utilized for a number of purposes such as to provide current income to a spouse or other loved ones. These plans also defer income for retirement and can ensure a child or grandchild's college expenses.
  Income for Life Plans
  • Charitable Remainder Trusts: You can transfer assets into a charitable trust which pays income for life, after which the trust assets go to the Foundation. There is a minimum trust amount of $100,000.
  • Pooled Income Fund: You can invest assets into a type of mutual fund which pays you net earnings for life, after which the funds go to the Foundation. The minimum investment amount is $10,000.
  • Charitable Gift Annuity: You may purchase an annuity and you receive income for life. The minimum annuity is $10,000.

Funds

Within the Foundation there are separate funds:

• 21^st Century Fund supports artistic initiatives and special projects of DMMO.
• Robert L. Larsen Fund for Artistic Excellence promotes continued artistic growth combined with financial security for generations to come.
• Douglas Duncan Memorial Fund supports contemporary and American opera productions.
• William Randolph Hearst Fund for Educational Outreach supports the education and community outreach efforts of the Company.
• Michael Herzfeld Fund supports underserved audiences to attend festival productions.
• Apprentice Artist Endowment Fund provides tuition, housing, meals and stipends for 40 artists annually.

Take the Next Step

Contact Robert Montana, Director of Development & Community Relations for Des Moines Metro Opera at (515) 961-6221 for more information on how to initiate your gift to the Foundation.

by Michael Egel, Artistic Administrator 

Following a ten-day audition tour in Chicago and New York City, Des Moines Metro Opera has completed the bulk of its casting needs for the 2008 Summer Festival.

The Company has assembled a stellar cast for the new production of Verdi's A Masked Ball. Tenor Arnold Rawls (last seen at DMMO in 2002 as Calaf in Turandot) returns to make his role debut as the tragic Gustavus III and Todd Thomas (our Iago last season and Rigoletto in 2006) also adds another role to his repertory with his assumption of the role of Anckarström, the one-time ally and later enemy of the king. Both Mr. Rawls and Mr. Thomas have performed with the Met this season. We are pleased to welcome Lise Lindstrom back to us for her role debut as Amelia. Ms. Lindstrom has been enjoying a busy schedule that includes recent performances of Senta in The Flying Dutchman and the title roles in Salome and Turandot for companies such as the Deustche Oper Berlin, New York City Opera, Arizona Opera, the Utah Symphony and Opera and the San Francisco Symphony. Gwendolyn Bowers makes her company debut as the gypsy sorceress Ulrica. A native of Iowa, Ms. Bowers has appeared with organizations such as the Houston Grand Opera, Glimmerglass Opera and the New York Philharmonic.

Based on Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes, Marc Blitzstein's Regina returns to Des Moines Metro Opera's stage after having been produced just once in the Company's history in 1994. The title role is a coveted tour-de-force opportunity for an accomplished singing-actress and we are pleased to announce that audience favorite Gwendolyn Jones will sing the role of Regina for the first time in her career. Another DMMO veteran will appear as Regina's money-hungry brother Ben Hubbard: Kimm Julian returns to our stage after a seven-year absence. Rounding out the cast of characters in the Hubbard/Giddens clan are Gwendolyn Bowers as Addie, Ryan Allen as Horace Tabor (the role he debuted with here in 1994), Jeremy Little as Leo and newcomer Sara Gartland as Regina's daughter, Alexandra.

Absent from our stage for over 25 years, Donizetti's effervescent and youthful comedy, The Elixir of Love returns in a production that promises to be espeically charming. Soprano Jane Redding (last season's Tytania in A Midsummer Night's Dream) will treat DMMO audiences to one of her signature roles, Adina. Jeremy Little, Fenton in our 2003 Falstaff, returns to us to sing Nemorino. This rising star will make his role debut with us this summer, after gaining recent credits with New York City Opera and the Metropolitan Opera. Rounding out the cast is Jan Opalach as Dr. Dulcamara. An accomplished singer who has appeared in a host of roles with many of the great houses in America, Jan was last heard at DMMO in the 1982 production of the same opera in the same role!

by Thomas S. Smith, Executive Director and CEO 

Balance can be defined as the placement of elements in such a way that they create a pleasingly integrated whole. When we decide on the operas and artists that will comprise a summer season at DMMO, we seek balance between a multitude of considerations that will give our patrons the best opera experience possible, and the 2008 season is no exception. We are proud to offer three stylistically different works that will intrigue and delight you. We will present one new production, one that we own, and one rental. We'll have several exciting role debuts, a host of returning singers, and plenty of first-time members of the James Collier Apprentice Artist Program. Truly, something for everyone!

A Masked Ball is grand opera at its finest, with all of the intense drama and musical emotion one expects from the great master, Giuseppe Verdi. Regina integrates distinctly American sounds and motivations that earn the work its own rightful place in the operatic pantheon. We will also present The Elixir of Love (what I refer to as the "sorbet course" of the season), whose chief value is one of entertainment, and the uplifting of spirits. Taken together, the 2008 season will certainly leave no emotion untouched.

The artist roster is filled with familiar faces who have graced our stage in years past, and have become audience favorites. Arnold Rawls, Lise Lindstrom, Todd Thomas, Gwen Jones, Jeremy Little, and Jane Redding are all superb artists who have established major careers in the finest opera houses in the United States and abroad. The first notes of the audition sung by our Ulrica (and Pella native), Gwendolyn Bowers, made me drop my pen and look up to see who was producing such an amazing sound. I am terrifically excited to hear these great musicians singing together in our theatre, and I know you will be as well.