2023 Annual report
2023 Highlights
From Mozart to Beyonce … from Dvorak to Adele … from Duke Ellington to John Philip Sousa (including a visit from the March King himself!) … Music Under the Stars presented six performances for an estimated 4,000 people. New this year were two concerts at the Lauridsen Amphitheater at Water Works Park, as Music Under the Stars expands to reach new audiences.
Guest Artists
Four new guest vocalists, including a mother-daughter duo, and a nationally known trombonist debuted at Music Under the Stars in 2023.
Des Moines’ own Napoleon Douglas is 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 shows at the Noce Jazz and Cabaret in Des Moines, most recently for an evening paying tribute to Nat King Cole.
Kellie Kramer is a singer and actor who has appeared in two indie films and many local musical theater productions. A native of Oskaloosa, she has appeared on many local stages is a vocalists and actor, and is also the host of the Iowa PBS series Iowa Outdoors.
Marisa Cravero, singer, dancer, actor and saxophonist, recently graduated from Valley High School in West Des Moines and will be pursuing a Jazz Performance degree at the University of North Texas this fall. She has already appeared with many of the top local jazz musicians, received numerous honors and awards as a jazz vocalist, and has appeared on IPTV.
Marisa was joined on stage for a duet on Over the Rainbow by her mother Ann Cravero, professor of voice at Drake University. Dr. Cravero has been heard on stages in Italy, China, and throughout the United States including Carnegie Hall, Symphony Hall in Chicago, Ordway Theater St. Paul, Really Spicy Opera Company in Minneapolis, American Gothic Performing Arts Festival, and Teatro Communale Città Vicenza.
Considered one of the finest trombonists of his generation, Dr. Tony Baker is a faculty member at the University of North Texas. Dr. Baker is a member of the Dallas Opera Orchestra, he has performed with ensembles such as the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, the Minnesota Opera Orchestra, the New Hampshire Music Festival Orchestra, and the Dallas, Columbus, Akron, and Arkansas symphony orchestras.
Returning guest vocalists included the award-winning jazz and blues legend Tina Haase-Findlay; jazz and big band singer Max Wellman, who has appeared at clubs throughout the U.S. and owns Noce Jazz and Cabaret; and singer/actor Gina Gedler, who has appeared on countless local musicals and club performances.
Sousa Lives! A Patriotic Observance
Music Under the Stars features marches and patriotic selections at the annual performance commemorating the birth of our country. This season, we honored a special guest: John Philip Sousa (1854-1932), the world’s best-known march composer. (Well, it was actually Music Director and Conductor Vince Kenney in disguise). Sousa/Kenney professed astonishment at how the world has changed since he traveled the world directing the United States Marine Band and the Sousa Band. Then the audience was treated to authentic performances of Sousa’s own arrangements of some of his most famous and beloved marches, including Semper Fidelis and The Stars and Stripes Forever.
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
For our annual Juneteenth celebration, in conjunction with Drake Night, Music Under the Stars featured the story of Johnny Bright, the Drake football star whose jaw was broken in a racially motivated incident during a game at Stillwater, Oklahoma in 1951. The attack was captured in a famous series of photographs in the Des Moines Sunday Register, and highlighted the depth of prejudice in American society. While the incident derailed his Heisman Trophy hopes, Bright want on to star in the Canadian Football League, and had successful career as a teacher, coach, and administrator. The John Dee Bright college at Drake is named after him.
Supporting Education
Dr. Baker presented a free master class at Drake University on the fundamentals of trombone performance for all area trombone students. That same evening, following Dr. Baker’s performance, on [name] those students joined other local trombonists on stage at the Capitol for an unforgettable performance of Iowa composer Meredith Willson’s 76 Trombones from The Music Man, featuring 76 trombones (or at least over 60)!
Three more instruments were donated to the Music Under the Stars Student Band and Orchestra Drive, which provides instruments for local schools with underserved populations so that more children will have the opportunity to participate in their school ensembles.
Helping Ukrainian Students
On July 16, Music Under the Stars partnered with the Humanitarian Scholarship Fund of Iowa to help fund scholarships for five high school exchange students from Ukraine who were living and studying in Iowa. With the onset of the war, these students were unable to return their homeland due to the war, and they were without resources to continue their education. Along with scholarships and work-study programs, the funding raised helped all five students to enroll at Iowa colleges and universities this fall. They are excited to have the opportunity to continue their education, and gratified for the generosity of Iowans.