Des Moines Symphony 2022-23 Masterworks Concert

Des Moines Symphony 2022 Masterworks Concert Schedule:

Season Debut: Gershwin, Rodrigo & Ravel

Saturday, September 24, 2022 at 7:30PM
Sunday, September 25, 2022 at 2:30PM

Season Debut! Classical guitar’s brightest star headlines a dazzling program packed with new and familiar classics.

Sharon Isbin, called “the pre-eminent guitarist of our time” by Boston Magazine, joins the Symphony in its first annual Harriet S. and J. Locke Macomber Concert, an artistic initiative aimed at presenting once-in-a-lifetime works and internationally renowned soloists. The first half of the concert features a trio of American composers beginning with the world premiere of Kevin Puts’s Heartland Canons. Sharon Isbin performs Christopher Brubeck’s Affinity, written as an homage to his late father, jazz great Dave Brubeck, and composed for Isbin to perform. Finally, the impressionistic and intoxicating rhapsody of Gershwin’s An American in Paris. After intermission, Ms. Isbin performs Rodrigo’s dazzling Fantasia para un gentilhombre. The Symphony’s Season Debut concludes with more than 100 musicians performing Ravel’s rapturous, passionate Daphnis et Chloe.

Masterworks 2: The Firebird

Saturday, October 22, 2022 at 7:30PM
Sunday, October 23, 2022 at 2:30PM

Award-winning pianist Charlie Albright returns in a program featuring Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody and Stravinsky’s dazzling, colorful Firebird.

Award-winning pianist Charlie Albright returns to Des Moines in a brilliant showcase of stunning moments and orchestral thrills. The concert begins with William Bolcom’s raucous Ragomania, then Mr. Albright performs Rachmaninoff’s ravishing, virtuosic Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. The program continues with the elegant Symphony No. 2, written in 1775 by the first known classical composer of African ancestry, Saint-Georges. Finally – the colorful, evocative tale of the Firebird will raise the rafters of the Civic Center, bringing the concert to a dazzling finish.

Masterworks 3: The Planets

Saturday, November 19, 2022 at 7:30PM
Sunday, November 20, 2022 at 2:30PM

Experience one of the greatest symphonic blockbusters ever written.

Adolphus Hailstork’s Fanfare on Amazing Grace is an explosion of joyous sound reflecting the influence of spirituals sung and loved since childhood. Scottish composer James MacMillan’s eloquent Larghetto for Orchestra is followed by Elgar’s Cockaigne Overture, a cheerful, rowdy musical portrait of Edwardian London. After intermission, Holst’s exuberant evocation of our solar system conjures the luminous night sky as well as the mythological deities associated with each of The Planets. Accompanied by a stunning high-definition film, the swirling energy of Holst’s composition conjures our unfathomable universe in a thrilling conclusion.

Masterworks 4: Mahler 5

Saturday, February 4, 2023 at 7:30PM
Sunday, February 5, 2023 at 2:30PM

Experience the tragedy and triumph of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, plus Kevin Zhu plays Tchaikovsky

Valerie Coleman’s Seven O’Clock Shout is an anthem inspired by the tireless frontline workers who came home at 7pm to shouts and cheers and clanging pots and pans during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, offering a hard-won vision of a more beautiful place. Rising star Kevin Zhu, the first Fred & Charlotte Hubbell Visiting Artist in Residence, joins the Symphony to perform Tchaikovsky’s bold and romantic Violin Concerto. The concert concludes with Gustav Mahler’s monumental Fifth Symphony, a spectacular journey from tragedy to triumph which Mahler himself described as a “foaming, roaring, raging sea of sound.”

Masterworks 5: St. Clair Conducts Tchaikovsky

Saturday, March 11, 2023 at 7:30PM
Sunday, March 12, 2023 at 2:30PM

Carl St. Clair leads the Orchestra in a breathtaking program featuring Tchaikovsky, Bruch, and more.

Renowned conductor and Music Director of the Pacific Symphony Carl St. Clair leads the Orchestra in a program which begins with multiple Emmy award-winning composer John Wineglass’s Alone Together, a piece that addresses social issues and systemic racial disparities. Aubree Oliverson, praised for her evocative lyricism, plays Bruch’s beloved First Violin Concerto. The concert concludes with Tchaikovsky’s profoundly stirring and ethereal “Pathétique” Symphony, known for its haunting conclusion that fades to black.

Masterworks 6: April in Paris

Saturday, April 22, 2023 at 7:30PM
Sunday, April 23, 2023 at 2:30PM

Franco-Belgian sensation Camille Thomas joins the Des Moines Symphony for a sparkling evocation of the City of Lights.

Franco-Belgian sensation Camille Thomas, the first cellist signed in 40 years by the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label, joins the Des Moines Symphony direct from the City of Lights for an all-French program. You’ll hear Berlioz’s bright and dashing Roman Carnival Overture, then experience Saint-Saëns’s Cello Concerto No. 1 played with brilliance and passion by Ms. Thomas. French composer Lili Boulanger was born in 1893 and wrote more than 50 compositions; the playful D’un matin de printemps (‘On a Spring Morning’) was her final piece, written a year before her death at the age of 24. This symphonic celebration of springtime in Paris concludes with the colorful can-can from Offenbach’s Gaite Parisienne.

Season Finale: Giunta Conducts Rachmaninoff

Saturday, May 13, 2023 at 7:30PM
Sunday, May 14, 2023 at 2:30PM

Gabriela Martinez plays Rachmaninoff’s glorious, lyrical Second Piano Concerto in a symphonic celebration of the composer’s 150th birthday.

Our Season Finale begins with Anna Clyne’s mysterious This Midnight Hour, a thrilling, dramatic piece packed with twists and turns. Gabriela Martinez is one of classical music’s most exciting new artists; experience the thrill of hearing Rachmaninoff’s glorious, lyrical Second Piano Concerto performed by this rising star. Our celebration of Rachmaninoff’s 150th birthday concludes with the composer’s rapturous, romantic Second Symphony.

TICKET INFO

Single tickets are $15-$70 and are available through Des Moines Performing Arts. Ticket prices are subject to a $5 increase on the day of the concert, excluding student rush tickets.

Half-price student tickets are $7.50-$35 and are available through the Civic Center Ticket Office. Student rush tickets, subject to availability, are $5 for junior high and high school students and $10 for all other students the day of the concert through the Civic Center Ticket Office. One ticket sold per valid Student ID.

The Des Moines Symphony welcomes children five years and older to attend performances. Children of any age are welcome to attend youth and family concerts. All children, regardless of age, must have their own ticket to attend performances.