About

The Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1937, is one of the Midwest’s premier arts institutions. Led by Music Director Joseph Giunta since 1989, the Orchestra has earned a national reputation as one of the country’s leading regional orchestras. The Orchestra performs Masterworks, Pops, special events and Education Concerts. In 2003, the Des Moines Symphony Academy was established, making the organization one of only five American orchestras to sponsor an Academy of Music.

“Dazzling, with the Des Moines brass bursting forth with stentorian power...” and delivering a “soul-satisfying triumph.” — Phillip Nones, Bachtrack

The Symphony became a founding member of the League of American Orchestras in 1942. During the 2023–2024 season, the Orchestra was selected to participate in the League’s Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commissions Program, a national consortium supporting new works by women and nonbinary composers, and performed the Midwest Premiere of Wang Lu’s Surge.

Now the principal resident company of the acoustically acclaimed 2,662-seat Des Moines Civic Center, the Orchestra performs seven pairs of Masterworks concerts each season, featuring major works of the orchestral repertoire and many of the world’s most prominent soloists, including John Browning, Van Cliburn, Alicia de Larrocha, Simon Estes, Sherrill Milnes, Itzhak Perlman, Anne Akiko Meyers, Olga Kern, and Yo-Yo Ma.

The Orchestra’s Pops programming includes its annual Holiday Brass and New Year’s Eve Pops concerts as well as free summer programming, including Yankee Doodle Pops and Water Works Pops. Pops programs have featured artists including Ella Fitzgerald, Roger Williams, Audra McDonald, and more. The Orchestra also regularly collaborates with Des Moines Performing Arts to bring world-renowned artists, such as the Martha Graham Dance Company, Leslie Odom, Jr., Renee Elise Goldsberry, Kristin Chenowith and many others, to the Civic Center stage.

Under Giunta’s leadership, the Orchestra has received numerous honors, including the Bravo Greater Des Moines Encore Award and the League of American Orchestras’ prestigious ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. The Orchestra’s commitment to creative and diverse programming includes 26 new works commissioned over the past 30 years.

Recent commissions include:

• Symphony in Sculpture I, II and III, by Emmy Award-winning composer Steve Heitzeg, were inspired by the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park. DVDs featuring original films by Blur MediaWorks, plus a behind-the-scenes making-of documentary, were released in 2013, 2016 and 2020, respectively.
• Symphony On A Stick was composed by Peter Hamlin and premiered on September 26 & 27, 2015, at the Civic Center. The following year it was performed on the opening night of the Iowa State Fair at the invitation of the Iowa State Blue Ribbon Foundation.
• Heartland, by living American composer Kevin Puts, premiered on September 22 & 23, 2022, at the Civic Center. A very generous gift from the Harriet S. and J. Locke Macomber Des Moines Symphony Fund made the commission possible.
• American Mosaic, by Peter Boyer with video images by Joe Sohm, was co-commissioned with the National Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony for the Cincinnati Pops, Pacific Symphony & Williamsburg Symphony to celebrate America’s 250^th birthday. A portion of the piece was premiered at Yankee Doodle Pops on July 3, 2026. The full piece kicks off the DMSO’s 2026-2027 Season.

Masterworks programs are broadcast statewide on Iowa Public Radio, the Radio Home of the Des Moines Symphony. The Orchestra, under the direction of Joseph Giunta, has also been featured on several recordings, including a unique collection of all nine Beethoven symphonies and a Chesky Records recording with acclaimed American pianist Earl Wild.

The mission of the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra & Academy is to create extraordinary live musical experiences and outstanding educational opportunities for the community. The Des Moines Symphony Academy provides year-round music education for students ages three to adult and attracts nearly 500 young musicians each week to the historic Temple for Performing Arts. Offerings include private lessons, group classes, chamber music and five ensembles: Preludio Strings, Youth Sinfonia, Youth Philharmonic, Youth Symphony and Youth Wind Ensemble.

The Academy and Orchestra also provide special educational experiences featuring distinguished artists and educators, including our own musicians. The DMSO Music Mentors Program takes our musicians directly into the schools in the weeks leading up to each Masterworks concert. The Fred & Charlotte Hubbell Visiting Artist in Residence program, launched in 2022–2023, brings renowned guest artists directly into area schools for one week each season. The Lauridsen Guest Conductor also offers “Maestro Classes,” which have featured guest conductors including Keith Lockhart, Mei-Ann Chen and Miguel Harth-Bedoya.

Each year, the Des Moines Symphony performs school-day Youth Concerts for more than 5,000 schoolchildren at the Civic Center, extending the transformative power of live music to students throughout the region.