• Ticket Price
    $20-80
    Students Half Price
  • Duration
    1 hr 45 min
    One intermission
Season Finale: Courage – Alpine Symphony

Season Finale: Courage – Alpine Symphony

The Symphony’s Season Finale explodes with Richard Strauss and his monumental storytelling. The Symphony’s powerful brass section is on display, from the composer’s Vienna Philharmonic Fanfare to the cinematic grandeur of his Alpine Symphony featuring 34 brass players. Amaryn Olmeda returns to Des Moines for Mendelssohn’s beautifully melodic Violin Concerto.

DMSO Remix Podcast

The DMSO Remix Podcast features professor and professional musician Dr. Eric McIntyre discussing pieces that will be performed at each Masterworks weekend. Learn about the rich history of both contemporary and past composers and their Classical works as Dr. Eric McIntyre dives into why this music is so powerful and enduring.

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Event Sponsors

Supporting Sponsors

Supported in part by:

  • Dr. Stephen C. Smith

Media Partner

Program

  • R. STRAUSS Vienna Philharmonic Fanfare Listen
  • Katahj COPLEY Equinox Listen
  • MENDELSSOHN Violin Concerto in E Minor Listen
  • R. STRAUSS An Alpine Symphony Listen

Performers

  • Joseph Giunta Conductor Bio
  • Amaryn Olmeda Violin Bio

Tickets

Single tickets are $20-$80 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.

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.

Learn More

Join us 45 minutes before the concert in the Prairie Meadows (East) Lobby for a free Concert Prelude Talk. Led by Dr. Eric McIntyre of Grinnell College, these discussions are complimentary to ticket holders and offer engaging and topical commentary on the featured program. 

Digital Program Books

In an effort to reduce our environmental impact and preserve natural resources, we now offer a Digital Program Book. Click here to read about the program, guests artists and composers featured this weekend.

Joseph Giunta

Joseph Giunta Conductor

One of America’s most distinguished, versatile and dynamic conductors, Joseph Giunta is a musician of international acclaim. He is recognized as an important American conductor for his innovative programming and for his compelling interpretations of traditional and new music. His musical depth combined with his boundless energy and contagious enthusiasm makes him one of the most respected and successful orchestra leaders in the United States.

Learn More About Maestro Giunta

Amaryn Olmeda

Amaryn Olmeda Violin

Winner of first prize and the audience choice award at the 24th Annual Sphinx Competition, violinist Amaryn Olmeda is a rising star sought after for her bold and expressive performances as a soloist and collaborator. Violinist.com says of Olmeda, “…her commanding stage presence, infallible technique, and interpretive ability already rival that of international concert stage veterans.”

Highlights of 2024-2025 include season-opening concerts in debut with the Boulder Philharmonic and the Alabama Symphony, as well as debut performances with the Charlotte Symphony, Albany Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Omaha Symphony, and Sarasota Orchestra. Olmeda will also debut in recital at the Kravis Center’s Young Artists Classical Series in West Palm Beach, FL and the University of Florida Performing Arts in Gainesville, FL.

Olmeda made her Lincoln Center debut during the 2024 Summer for the City Series. She made her Carnegie Hall solo debut on the Sphinx Virtuosi tour at the age of 14, garnering rave reviews. At 13, Olmeda was named the initial member of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Opus 3 Artist’s Artist Apprentice Program.

Highlights of previous seasons include debuts as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, and the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra at their New Year’s Concert Series, earning her a nomination for the San Francisco Classical Voice Audience Choice Awards. Olmeda also performed in recital at the Bouchaine Young Artist Series at Festival Napa Valley as well as at the National Arts Club in New York City.

In 2023, Olmeda made her recording debut as the featured soloist of Carlos Simon’s Between Worlds on the Sphinx Virtuosi’s inaugural recording with Deutsche Grammophon. The Strad Magazine said of Olmeda’s performance, “…it receives an impressive reading here by the young musician [and] she shows why she has garnered the word 'prodigy’.”

Other career highlights include selection as an NPR From the Top Fellow, receiving the National Arts Club’s Herman and Mary Neuman Music Award, being named a Young Artist Soloist by the Seattle Symphony, and being featured in a solo performance with the Sacramento Philharmonic and VITA Academy in the video production, The Extraordinary Life of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges. In 2022 Olmeda performed for the San Francisco Conservatory Gala with pianist Yuja Wang. She has performed for numerous school and community outreach events including with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Richmond Symphony, Auburn Symphony, and Oakland Symphony.

Born in Melbourne, Australia in 2008, Olmeda currently studies at the New England Conservatory of Music with Miriam Fried. She previously studied with Ian Swensen at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Amaryn Olmeda performs on a violin made by J.B. Vuillaume in 1864.