Des Moines Metro Opera
Opera company in Indianola, Iowa, US
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Des Moines Metro Opera is an American contemporary opera festival based in Indianola, Iowa, in the Des Moines metropolitan area. Its main summer repertory season is held at the Blank Performing Arts Center on the campus of Simpson College. The DMMO's wintertime OPERA Iowa tour travels across the state of Iowa to schools and community venues, presenting opera for a general audience.[1]
| Des Moines Metro Opera | |
|---|---|
| Opera company | |
Des Moines Metro Opera main office at the Indianola Carnegie Library | |
| Founded | 1973 |
| Location | Indianola, Iowa |
| Website | desmoinesmetroopera |
Des Moines Metro Opera was founded in 1973 by Robert L. Larsen and Douglas Duncan. Following Larsen's retirement in 2009, the current artistic and executive director is Michael Egel. During its annual summer festival, the company typically performs three mainstage operas in rolling repertory during June and July. Since 1984, the company has been headquartered at the historic Indianola Carnegie Library.
History
Des Moines Metro Opera was founded in 1973 by Simpson College music professors Robert L. Larsen and Douglas Duncan.[2][3] Larsen had previously founded the Des Moines Civic Opera, which performed for two seasons at Hoyt Sherman Place in downtown Des Moines. He was also involved in the construction of Simpson College's Blank Performing Arts Center, named after Des Moines businessman Abraham Harry Blank, which opened in 1971.[4]
The company's initial season was produced in the Blank Performing Arts Center at a cost of $22,000 (equivalent to $130,000 in 2024[5]), and featured Larsen as the director and conductor of three productions: Albert Herring, La rondine, and a double-bill of The Medium and Arthur Benjamin's Prima Donna. All four operas were sung in English, and presented with contemporary stagings.[6][7] The inaugural season began a longstanding tradition of the company employing early-career singers to develop their careers.[8]
By the early 1980s, the company had grown significantly, while continuing its core format of three English-language operas at Simpson College. It also staged additional performances at the Des Moines Civic Center, such as a 1984 production of Aida that featured live elephants and camels, and added a statewide music education program during the winter season.[4] The company promoted itself as a contrast to other regional opera companies, airing television commercials in 1986 that promoted its focus on younger singers and English-language works. That year, the DMMO premiered its first commissioned work, Lee Hoiby's The Tempest.[3]
Duncan sang some roles in the DMMO's early seasons and later took on the administrative leadership of the company, including a 1983 fundraising campaign that involved his personal weight loss.[9] He led the company's administration until his death in 1988, at the age of 37.[10] After Duncan's death, Larsen took on the administrative leadership of the company, which he continued until his retirement in 2009.[8]
The company's first performance of an opera in a language other than English was Tosca in 1998, at the Civic Center in Des Moines.[11] Critic Brian Kellow wrote in a 2003 Opera News review that Larsen's leadership of the company had given it a "reputation for having a unified tone and feel," and commented that Larsen attended every audition. Kellow noted Larsen's focus on the smallest of details in music, scenic design, and costuming, and argued that the company's success was aided by its large-scale apprenticeship program.[2]
Des Moines Metro Opera's budget rose to $2.2 million in 2013, as the company continued to expand. Larsen retired in 2009, and Michael Egel took over the role of artistic director in 2010. Egel took over the company's administrative leadership in 2013.[4][6] Egel started at the company in 1994, and rose through its ranks, and by the company's 35th anniversary in 2007, Larsen reportedly called Egel his "right-hand man."[4] Under Egel's leadership, the company expanded its production values and featured more well-known singers.[6]
Controversy
In September 2025, The Des Moines Register published a series of articles by investigative reporter Tyler Jett detailing a long history of labor abuse allegations against Des Moines Metro Opera.[12] Jett's reporting cited a chronology of abuse, with early examples including a 1978 Iowa PBS broadcast that featured singers working 15-hour days in rehearsal.[13]
