Orchestra

Musicians come from all over the United States and Canada to play in the Des Moines Metro Opera Orchestra. Most perform during the year with professional orchestras that do not have a summer season. Many return year after year and are promoted through our tenure system. Informal chamber music concerts are voluntary and offer our orchestra players musical variety and the opportunity to get better acquainted with our colleagues.

Artistic Director and Conductor Dr. Robert Larsen founded Des Moines Metro Opera (DMMO) in 1973. The original goals of the company have changed little during those years: to provide a stage for young American singers, to showcase American repertoire not often heard in larger opera houses, and to recruit new friends of opera.

The DMMO Festival takes place on the campus of Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. Most members of the company will take up residence there for the duration of the season. Indianola is a community of 13,000 people located 15 miles south of Des Moines (metro population: 300,000). The college and small-town atmosphere of Indianola is friendly and relaxed, with ample opportunities for recreation, dining out, and shopping. All of the main stage operas will take place in the Blank Performing Arts Center Theater on the Simpson campus. The modern style, air-conditioned 500-seat theater has a combination thrust and proscenium layout with a relatively large orchestra pit. Air-conditioned dormitory housing (double occupancy) is provided free of charge by the Company. Single dormitory rooms and apartments are available on a limited basis at a very reasonable cost to the occupant(s).

Wages and conditions are governed by a union agreement with AFM Local 75 in Des Moines. Vacancies are generally announced by Novermber 1st and are filled through a recorded audition process. If you would like to send a resume, we will keep it on file and send you an audition packet if there is a vacancy for your instrument. All audition information, including excerpts and deadlines, are included in the audition packet. Vacancies are also published in International Musician. To request an audition packet or if you have other questions, please contact Chari Kruse by phone at (515) 961-6221, by fax at (515) 961-8175 or by e-mail at dmmo@dmmo.org.

There is more information for orchestra members available here.