2024-2025 Season

Concerts are at Ames City Auditorium (520 6th St. Ames, IA 50010) except when noted otherwise.

October 5, 2024 – 7:30 PM: Dreams and Nightmares

Ames City Auditorium | 520 6th St. Ames, IA 50010
Concert Conversations with Eric McIntyre at 6:45 PM

Featuring Chad Sonka, baritone

From “The Impossible Dream” to a terrifying portrayal of a witches’ sabbath, our season opener is rich with musical imagery and a vast range of passions. The program begins with the luscious, enveloping strains of a dream sequence from Humperdinck’s beloved opera, Hänsel und Gretel, and closes with the opium-induced nightmares of Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. Along the way, baritone soloist Chad Sonka joins the orchestra for a collection of stirring songs inspired by the story of Don Quixote.

Humperdinck – Dream Pantomime from Hänsel und Gretel
Leigh – Selections from Man of La Mancha
Fauré – Après un rêve  
Ravel – Don Quichotte à Dulcinée 
Berlioz – from Symphonie Fantastique, Mvts 4 and 5


December 7, 2024 – 7:30 PM: Great P’s of Music

Ames City Auditorium | 520 6th St. Ames, IA 50010
Concert Conversations with Eric McIntyre at 6:45 PM

Featuring Beau Henson, violin

Most music lovers are familiar with the “Great B’s,” Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms, but this is not the only alliterative group of brilliant composers. In our December concert, we invite listeners to celebrate the “Great P’s.” Highlights include three selections from operas by the master of drama, Giacomo Puccini, and a violin concerto by the master of orchestration, Sergei Prokofiev, featuring rising-star violin soloist Beau Henson. The concert opens with music by film score composer Rachel Portman, and includes the moving Agnus Dei from the Polish Requiem by the brilliant composer Krzysztof Penderecki.

Portman – Endangered 
Prokofiev – Violin Concerto No. 1 
Penderecki – Agnus Dei strings only 
Puccini – Prelude to Edgar, Act I  
Puccini – Intermezzo from Suor Angelica  
Puccini – “La Tregenda” from Le Villi


March 2, 2025 – 3:00 PM: Young Artists Concert

Ames City Auditorium | 520 6th St. Ames, IA 50010
Concert Conversations with Eric McIntyre at 1:15 PM

Featuring our January Young Artists Competition Winners

The annual Young Artists Concert is always an audience favorite. Once again, we are featuring the remarkable talents of soloists selected during the competition, and the program is always a bit of a surprise! No one will know until January which selections will be performed by the soloists, but we do know that the centerpiece of the program is Robert Schumann’s 4th Symphony. Join us for this powerful symphony that takes us on an incredible journey from its brooding, introspective opening to its glorious, triumphant conclusion.   

Schumann – Symphony No. 4 in D minor
plus selections to be determined from competition winners


May 3, 2025 – 7:30 PM: Magic and Mayhem

Ames City Auditorium | 520 6th St. Ames, IA 50010
Concert Conversations with Eric McIntyre at 6:45 PM

Featuring Kevin Judge, bassoon

We bring our season to a close with an array of magical music, guaranteed to dazzle and delight. While Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain conjures up scenes of madness and fear, Dukas Sorcerer’s Apprentice is all about zany fantasy and frantic antics. Of course, no program about sorcery is complete without a touch of music from Mozart’s beloved Magic Flute. Rounding out the fun, our featured soloist, Kevin Judge, shows off his own wizardry on the “clown of the orchestra,” the bassoon.

Mussorgsky – Night on Bald Mountain 
Weber – Concerto for Bassoon in F Major
Mozart – Overture to The Magic Flute 
Dukas – L’Apprenti sorcier