2024 Annual report
2023 Highlights
Since 1947, Music Under the Stars has produced and presented free band music programs featuring central Iowa’s professional musicians on Sunday evenings in the shadow of the Capitol. Concertgoers from throughout central Iowa gather their lawn chairs and blankets and come together to enjoy this family-friendly tradition that has become part of the fabric of our community.
The programming is a diverse variety of classic band repertoire and exciting contemporary works that appeals to all ages and tastes, including concert band, wind ensemble, marches, classical, jazz, big band, swing, Latin, blues, and popular music. Every concert opens with the signature theme Music Under the Stars, composed by Lorraine E. Waters, the first conductor of the concert band.
In 2024, from Italian Opera to New Orleans Jazz to Broadway … from Mozart, Beethoven, and Holst to Beyonce, Abba, and Steve Wonder … from John Philip Sousa to John Willams to Elton John … Music Under the Stars presented six concerts with notable guest soloists featured at each performance. The estimated audience was 4,400 (even though one concert had to be moved to our inclement weather location at the Drake Fine Arts Center), continuing a trend of strong post-pandemic attendance.
Featured Performers
SSG Irving Ray, a member of the U.S. Army Band (“Pershing’s Own”), grew up in a large musical family in Houston. Ray is an internationally known soloist and teacher. He performs annually with the Wind Bands Association of Singapore, has appeared as a guest soloist with the Monterrey Symphony Orchestra in Monterrey, Mexico, and serves ng as a guest soloist and brass lecturer with the Field Band Foundation in Durban, South Africa. Prior to joining “Pershing’s Own,” Dr. Ray earned a DMA at the University of North Texas and was Adjunct Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at Brookhaven College.
Dr. Maureen Yuen is Associate Professor of Violin and Viola at Drake University. Her performance schedule includes solo and chamber music performances, recordings, adjudication, and masterclasses worldwide, including the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival, the University of Nairobi (Kenya), and across Japan as a mentor with the New York Symphonic Ensemble. As a soloist, Dr. Yuen curates programs that showcase works from underrepresented composers, enriching the musical landscape with a tapestry of voices often overlooked in traditional settings.
Andrew Classen is Professor of Trumpet and Jazz Studies at Drake University plays in Orchestra Iowa and the Des Moines Symphony He has performed with numerous Broadway shows and is in demand as a clinician/guest artist for recitals, masterclasses and seminars, regionally, nationally and internationally. He leads the Turner Center Jazz Orchestra and is an active jazz composer with several publications to his credit. He has also released a classical trumpet album, It’s About Time. Andy has been principal trumpet at Music Under the Stars since 2013.
Clarinetist Dr. Dana Sloter is a graduate of Drake University and recently completed her Doctor of Music Arts degree from the University of Missouri, Kansas City. Dana has returned to Drake as Teaching Artist of Clarinet and maintains a private studio for clarinet and piano students. She is also a music director and pit musician, having played for productions in theaters in the Peoria, Des Moines, Phoenix, and Kansas City areas as a keyboardist and woodwind doubler. She has been assistant principal clarinet at Music Under the Stars since 2021.
Jazz and blues legend Tina Haase-Findlay is known far and wide for her authentic and powerful singing. She is a member of the Greater Des Moines Jazz Hall of Fame and a multiple winner of the Iowa Blues Challenge. A Drake University graduate, she has sung throughout the Midwest, and appears at Noce and as an artist in residence and with her band Diva and the Deacons.
Vocalist and bandleader Max Wellman, a Des Moines native, is the owner and General Manager of the Noce jazz club. Max has also appeared in clubs throughout the country, including Dizzy’s at Lincoln Center and Andy’s Jazz Club in Chicago. His big band renditions evoking the likes of Frank Sinatra and Harry Connick, Jr. bring the Great American Songbook to life.
Vocalist Napoleon Douglas is a graduate of City Voices, Roosevelt High School, and Drake University. He has worked in New York, Colorado, and Memphis as a singer, actor, voiceover artist, choreographer, producer, and teaching artist. Napoleon has headlined acclaimed shows at Noce, highlighting the music of such performers as Nat King Cole, Stevie Wonder, and Sammy Davis, Jr.
Abby Kate Boeschen, soprano, graduated summa cum laude from Drake University in 2023 with her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. Ms. Boeschen is a five-time winner of state and regional vocal competitions and has appeared on stages across the U.S. and Europe. A native of central Iowa, she is on the faculty of the Drake Community School of Music.
Gina Gelder is one of Des Moines’ most best-known and in-demand vocalists. She has appeared in innumerable bands and musical productions and has been an artist-in-residence at Noce since 2015. Her shows featuring tributes to Peggy Lee, Barbra Streisand, and Linda Ronstadt, and Bette Midler with her own band are some most popular jazz events in town.
Marisa Cravero, singer, dancer, actor and saxophonist, is pursuing a Jazz Performance degree at the University of North Texas. She has received numerous honors and awards as a jazz vocalist and has appeared on IPTV. Last year Marisa was featured with the Concert Band singing a duet with her mother, Drake professor of voice Dr. Ann Cravero. 2024 was her debut headlining the Big Band.
The United States Coast Guard Band, directed by Cmdr. Adam Williamson, is the premier band representing the United States Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security. The 55-member ensemble is based at the US Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. In addition to performing concert tours around the nation, the Band has also played in the former Soviet Union, Canada, England, Japan and Taiwan. In 2008, the Band became the first premier American military band to perform a concert tour of Japan.
The Coast Guard Band appeared as the Special Guest Ensemble at the June 30 concert, performing a broad spectrum of music including classic band literature and marches. This included Music Under the Stars’ annual Armed Forces Salute medley, where veterans in the audience are invited to stand and be recognized by the audience as their service song is performed.
Music Under the Stars also recognized our veterans with the annual Armed Forces Salute. Veterans in the audience were asked to stand when their service anthem was performed, and at the conclusion, treated to a rousing ovation for their service to our country.
Celebrating Stories of Diversity
Music Under the Stars, in its programming and performances, brings forward stories of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion each year to heighten awareness of the stories of underrepresented groups. In the past, we have told the stories of Frances Kinney, the first female band director in Iowa, the 44th Army band, consisting of the pioneering all black female military unit based at Fort Des Moines in the forties, facing and Drake football legend Johnny Bright.
The programs included noted contemporary women concert band composers – a traditionally underrecognized group in the band – with stirring and evocate works by Julie Giroux (Before the Sun) and Shelly Hanson (Elegy for Albioni).
For our 2024 Juneteenth observance the audience learned of the early life and career of jazz legend Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong. Famous in his later years as primarily an entertainer known for his warmth and humanity, he did not hesitate to call out the prejudice of his day. Armstrong came to fame as the greatest figure in early jazz whose dazzling trumpet work took the public by storm. A combo consisting of band members opened the season on June 2 with a jazz and blues performance featuring the great Tina Haase-Findlay and including Struttin’ with Some Barbecue and Basin Street Blues, two selections from Armstrong’s iconic Okah recordings of 1927-30.
Providing Resources for Education
Since 2011, Music Under the Stars has conducted a Student Band and Orchestra Drive, where gently used instruments are donated to local public and private schools with underserved populations. Without these instruments, many children would not be able to be a part of their school band and orchestra programs, since many schools do not have enough instruments for everyone. Studies have consistently shown that children who participate in the arts perform better in school academically and socially and are more likely to stay in school.
This year, Music Under the Stars made its largest single annual donation – 15 woodwind and brass instruments – to the Harding Middle School band program. It is our goal to help provide every child in our community the opportunity to learn to play an instrument.
