Resources
11/9/2020 Email with Final instructions
- Our remaining rehearsals and concert are occurring at Franklin Junior High (4801 Franklin Ave, Des Moines).
- 11/10 rehearsal from 7-9:30 pm - this will be held in the auditorium. Instead of the southwest entrance, there is a south entrance (down the hall from where we have been rehearsing). Carl Johnson will usher us in to the auditorium and show us where to sit.
- Dress rehearsal - Saturday, 11/14 from 9:30 am-noon, auditorium
- Concert - Sunday, 11/15 at noon, auditorium
- Concert black dress: Men (black suit, white shirt, black long tie, black shoes and socks), Women (black pants and top, or long black dress, or long black skirt and top, black hose and shoes - sleeves should be long if possible)
- Since we have the benefit of a 60’ jumbotron, we are going to be showing a slide-show of Veterans during the concert—if you are one or have one you wish to honor please send us a picture and name, rank, and branch to Mike Ramirez by Tuesday, 11/10.
October email on the november 2020 cONCERT
The response to this project has been more than amazing! We are looking forward to meeting and making this happen! Once we realized that this was coming together Carl made some decisions as far as the theme. Given that our “concert” will be presented shortly after Veterans Day we are going to do a Salute to Veterans.
The selections are:
American Salute (Morton Gould)
Elegy for the Greatest Generation (Linda Robbins Coleman)
Shenandoah (arr. Jack Bullock)
Victory at Sea (Richard Rodgers)
Battle Hymn of the Republic (arr. Peter J. Wilhousky)
The Stars and Stripes Forever (John Philip Sousa)
As you can see, there are a lot of fun pieces. There are some elements to cover.
Please also send Veteran pictures, name rank, and branch to me at the above email address.
Regarding logistical information:
Everything is occurring at Franklin Junior High (4801 Franklin Ave, Des Moines).
Dress Rehearsal (Small Auditorium -South Entrance): 11/14 from 9:30 a.m.- noon
Performance (Small Auditorium -South Entrance): 11/15 at 12:00 p.m
Stands will be provided.
We will not be collecting dues for participation in this concert.
The selections are:
American Salute (Morton Gould)
Elegy for the Greatest Generation (Linda Robbins Coleman)
Shenandoah (arr. Jack Bullock)
Victory at Sea (Richard Rodgers)
Battle Hymn of the Republic (arr. Peter J. Wilhousky)
The Stars and Stripes Forever (John Philip Sousa)
As you can see, there are a lot of fun pieces. There are some elements to cover.
- First, to make the work for our sewing team easier, it would be preferential if string and percussion players bring their own masks. We will be making the wind and brass masks, bell, and instrument covers.
- Second, since we do have the benefit of a 60’ jumbotron, we are going to be showing a slide-show of Veterans during the concert—if you are one or have one you wish to honor please send us a picture and name, rank, and branch (MICHAEL.S.RAMIREZ@ME.COM).
- Third—music distribution. In the next couple days I will have all of the music. I will offer these options for music distribution:
- Delivery over the weekend so you can take a look at it before rehearsal
- Pickup at our house at 9156 Lincoln Avenue, Clive, so you can take a look at it before rehearsal
- PDF emailed to you so you can take a look at it before rehearsal
- Pickup at the first rehearsal.
- PLEASE REPLY TO MICHAEL.S.RAMIREZ@ME.COM WITH YOUR MUSIC DELIVERY PREFERENCE
Please also send Veteran pictures, name rank, and branch to me at the above email address.
Regarding logistical information:
Everything is occurring at Franklin Junior High (4801 Franklin Ave, Des Moines).
Dress Rehearsal (Small Auditorium -South Entrance): 11/14 from 9:30 a.m.- noon
Performance (Small Auditorium -South Entrance): 11/15 at 12:00 p.m
Stands will be provided.
We will not be collecting dues for participation in this concert.
Letter from the podium
From Carl Johnson:
At the most recent DMCO board meeting, it was decided I should write a Letter from the Podium explaining where we are at the moment and what will be happening this fall.
Click here for the Letter
At the most recent DMCO board meeting, it was decided I should write a Letter from the Podium explaining where we are at the moment and what will be happening this fall.
Click here for the Letter
Virtual Ensembles Letter
I am writing you this morning with both a sense of great anticipation and great sadness. A week ago the Board of Directors for the Orchestra met for our first annual board meeting. In this meeting we elected the officers for the coming year and tackled what exactly this coming season will look like. As far as the election, I will summarize by saying that all members chose to remain in their prior positions and were elected as such. We transitioned the Grants Chair to a Non-Board Officer position and Rich Gordley was elected as an at-large member of the Board.
As many of you may be aware, the situation with Covid-19 is really “all over the place”. It is very difficult to anticipate days ahead of time, let alone weeks and months ahead of time. As President, I opened the matter for discussion then motioned for the Board to vote on moving the start date for our in-person 2020-2021 season until 2021. To allow for full transparency and democratic process, we held a roll-call vote on the motion. The motion passed unanimously and we moved on to further discussion for the actual plans on what we would be doing instead.
Our initial thoughts are to do several large-ensemble pieces and several small ensemble pieces for the Fall Concert. Unfortunately, there is no safe way to present the Messiah this year. For the Fall concert, we will be creating virtual ensembles. In order to accomplish this we will post a reference recording with Carl conducting as well as the music in a shared site. You will need two devices in order to accomplish this—one with headphones where you place one headphone in your ear and “play along” with the recording while recording yourself on the second device. Once you have created a recording you feel comfortable with you will upload it to a site yet to be determined. Once all recordings are received I will go to work stitching everything together. On the concert day the videos will be posted to social media, YouTube, and our website along with digital programs. We are working to identify another method of upload for those who have trouble posting to an upload site.
To test this out we are going to have a test-run in July with Farandole. You will find all of the parts and the reference recordings at the link below. It is critical that you use only this reference recording to play along with. I am requesting that all submissions for this test be uploaded by July 21 which will give me 10 days to process it. We are working on a place to upload the recordings which we will send out in the next couple of days. Once we are able to ascertain the ease and interest in this endeavor, the Board will meet in early August to finalize the plans for the Fall “Concert”. At this point, we are still working with Iowa PBS to hopefully still present this with them in some form.
I understand the profound disappointment surrounding not being able to meet together and make music but we have to consider the health and safety of our members and our audience and err on the side of caution. We are as anxious as I’m sure all of you are to meet again, and hopefully that day will come sooner than later. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly with any concerns or questions about our plans and the recording process . I am sure that this “virtual orchestra” will prove to be fun in its own right and look forward to receiving your submissions.
**Note - see email for link to the Dropbox with the recordings**
We've had good questions/thoughts submitted that we'd like to share with all of you:
As many of you may be aware, the situation with Covid-19 is really “all over the place”. It is very difficult to anticipate days ahead of time, let alone weeks and months ahead of time. As President, I opened the matter for discussion then motioned for the Board to vote on moving the start date for our in-person 2020-2021 season until 2021. To allow for full transparency and democratic process, we held a roll-call vote on the motion. The motion passed unanimously and we moved on to further discussion for the actual plans on what we would be doing instead.
Our initial thoughts are to do several large-ensemble pieces and several small ensemble pieces for the Fall Concert. Unfortunately, there is no safe way to present the Messiah this year. For the Fall concert, we will be creating virtual ensembles. In order to accomplish this we will post a reference recording with Carl conducting as well as the music in a shared site. You will need two devices in order to accomplish this—one with headphones where you place one headphone in your ear and “play along” with the recording while recording yourself on the second device. Once you have created a recording you feel comfortable with you will upload it to a site yet to be determined. Once all recordings are received I will go to work stitching everything together. On the concert day the videos will be posted to social media, YouTube, and our website along with digital programs. We are working to identify another method of upload for those who have trouble posting to an upload site.
To test this out we are going to have a test-run in July with Farandole. You will find all of the parts and the reference recordings at the link below. It is critical that you use only this reference recording to play along with. I am requesting that all submissions for this test be uploaded by July 21 which will give me 10 days to process it. We are working on a place to upload the recordings which we will send out in the next couple of days. Once we are able to ascertain the ease and interest in this endeavor, the Board will meet in early August to finalize the plans for the Fall “Concert”. At this point, we are still working with Iowa PBS to hopefully still present this with them in some form.
I understand the profound disappointment surrounding not being able to meet together and make music but we have to consider the health and safety of our members and our audience and err on the side of caution. We are as anxious as I’m sure all of you are to meet again, and hopefully that day will come sooner than later. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly with any concerns or questions about our plans and the recording process . I am sure that this “virtual orchestra” will prove to be fun in its own right and look forward to receiving your submissions.
**Note - see email for link to the Dropbox with the recordings**
We've had good questions/thoughts submitted that we'd like to share with all of you:
- If you are printing the music, make sure to click the "fit to page" button (or "shrink to fit" or whatever your computer uses). Otherwise notes on the right margin and the bottom of the page may not print.
- When we know the place where recordings will be uploaded, we will make sure file requirements are specified and communicate this information.
- Recordings to be submitted are video recordings with audio.
- If you play multiple instruments, feel free to submit multiple recordings if you wish.
dues details
$20.00 per concert per each member that intends to perform at a concert. Does not include the Ballet
Payment can be made to:
Krista Baskerville
Carolyn Knittle
Fellowships are available for members who need financial help with dues - contact Krista or Carolyn to coordinate a fellowship
Payment can be made to:
Krista Baskerville
Carolyn Knittle
Fellowships are available for members who need financial help with dues - contact Krista or Carolyn to coordinate a fellowship
video game concert RECORDING
The recording for the video game concert performed on June 9th, 2019 is linked to below