Des Moines Civic Orchestra

08/26/2026

FANFARE! New Beginnings: our 51st season begins with this interview of our new conductor, Dr. Jonathan Sturm, and DMCO Dr. Kevin Allemagne. Have a look!

Then come and enjoy our first concert of the season on October 25, 2:00 PM, Drake University Sheslow auditorium, featuring music of Copland, Beethoven, Holst, Gonoud, and Rimsky-Korsakov on the program!

October's concert will celebrate new beginnings with grand pieces —...

08/23/2026

Please enjoy getting to know the new director of the Des Moines Civic Orchestra, Dr Jonathan Sturm.

08/19/2026

The Des Moines Civic Orchestra (formerly the Des Moines Community Orchestra) is looking forward to an exciting 2026-27 season!
Please put the following dates on your calendar!
🎶🎻🎵🎺🎶🎹🎵🥁🎶

The first concert of the season, titled “Fanfare! New Beginnings” will be our debut performance under our newly updated orchestra name, and will be performed under the baton of our new conductor, Dr Jonathan Sturm.

We are extremely fortunate to have appointed Dr Sturm after a year long search for a new conductor. His experience and knowledge will be a great benefit for the orchestra and for its future.

Dr Sturm has chosen a variety of exciting pieces to begin our season including:

Fanfare for the Common Man by Aaron Copland,
The Coriolanus Overture by Ludwig Van Beethoven
The main theme from the 1970’s film “Halloween”
A suite from the film “King Kong”
The Funeral March for Marionettes,
Mars from Holst’s, The Planets and
Symphony #1 by Rimsky Korsakov

October 25, 2026
2 PM
Sheslow Auditorium
Drake University
2507 University Ave,
Des Moines, Ia
Concert is free

Sing Messiah!
December 6, 2026
2 PM
Grace United Methodist Church
3700 Cottage Avenue
Des Moines, Ia

The audience is the chorus! Bring your own copy of “The Messiah” to sing along in the chorus sections. Limited copies are available to borrow.

Winter 2027 Concert
February 21,2027
2 PM
Urbandale High School Performing Arts Center
7111 NW Aurora Ave.
Urbandale, Ia

Spring 2027 Concert
May 23, 2027
2 PM
Urbandale High School PAC
7111 NW Aurora Ave
Urbandale, Ia.

Please join us and invite your friends!

08/17/2026

🎻 As we get ready to start rehearsals up again, here’s a little throwback to our May concert!

“The Marriage of Figaro Overture” by Mozart

DesMoinesEvents

07/16/2026

Support from Bravo Greater Des Moines enables the DMCO to provide four high quality concerts annually for the Des Moines community free of charge.
We are very grateful for Bravo’s generous support which allows us to share beautiful music with our community.

07/10/2026

The Des Moines Community Orchestra has experienced a very exciting year! We celebrated our 50 year anniversary and selected our next conductor, Dr Jonathan Sturm!

Another change coming as we transition into the future is a new name for the orchestra.
We will now be known as:
The Des Moines Civic Orchestra

Please be sure to mark the date of our first concert of the 2026-27 season on your calendar:
October 25th, 2026
2:00 PM
Sheslow Auditorium at Drake University.
It is sure to be outstanding and you won’t want to miss it!
More info about this exciting concert and the coming season will be posted soon!

05/13/2026

The Des Moines Community Orchestra is delighted to announce that after an exciting year of memorable performances in our search process, Dr. Jonathan Sturm has been selected as our next Music Director and Conductor!

After a season filled with inspiring performances from three outstanding finalists, our musicians and board were moved by Dr. Sturm’s artistry, leadership, and vision for the future of DMCO. We are excited for the creativity, collaboration, and musical growth he will bring to our orchestra.

We also want to extend our heartfelt appreciation to Kara Mather and Joshua Barlage, whose exceptional musicianship and thoughtful rehearsal leadership made this an incredibly meaningful search process. Their contributions enriched our season and reminded us of the remarkable talent within our musical community.

Thank you to every musician, supporter, and audience member who has been part of this journey. We look forward to beginning this new chapter with Dr. Sturm and sharing many more memorable performances with you.

Onward to a wonderful new season of music! 🎻✨

Dr. Kevin Allemagne
President of the Board of Directors and Principal Clarinet
Des Moines Community Orchestra

05/13/2026

Perfect way to finish our 50 year Anniversary season!🎉🎶🎉

DES MOINES, Iowa– The Des Moines Community Orchestra has been bringing free concerts to the metro for 50 years. The orchestra has grown over the years with now having around 85 members & #8220…

05/11/2026

Wanted to share this very special video featuring moms and loved ones of our orchestra members!
This was was shown during the concert yesterday! Please enjoy!🌷

Made with Google Vids https://vids.new/

05/11/2026

That’s a wrap for our exciting Audition Season and 50th Anniversary! 🎉🎶🎻🎶🪊

Hope you enjoyed our “Mozart and Motherhood” concert yesterday afternoon!
A big thank you goes to our amazing guest conductor, Kara Mather, soloist Kevin Allemagne, all of our DMCO musicians, and to you, our incredible audience! We were happy that our retired long time conductor, Carl Johnson, could join us and conduct the final piece!

We also thank guest conductors, Jonathan Sturm, and Joshua Barlage who conducted previous concerts this season, as well as James Thompson who conducted the Messiah!

We now have a very difficult decision to make. We will soon be choosing who will be our new permanent conductor. Stay tuned!