Iowa PBS presents Des Moines Metro Opera Virtual Festival

With the cancellation of the 2020 Des Moines Metro Opera (DMMO) season, Iowa PBS is bringing fan favorite performances into the living rooms of Iowans and beyond. Des Moines Metro Opera Virtual Festival will encore four DMMO performances on Iowa PBS’s primary channel and stream the shows online for a worldwide audience for the first time. Experience these stunning, rarely performed masterpieces on Sundays, June 28 through July 19.

Set in the lavish world of 18th century France, virtue and corruption clash in Des Moines Metro Opera Presents Manon when the choice between young love and life’s temptations leads to the descent from innocence to despair. Tune in Sunday, June 28 at 2 p.m. 

Delve into a dark fairytale world in Des Moines Metro Opera Presents Rusalka on Sunday, July 5 at 2 p.m. Fate and desire collide when an enchanting water nymph falls in love with a human prince in Czech composer Antonín Dvořák’s most famous opera. 

There’s no escape from the clash of virtues and the cost of human error in Des Moines Metro Opera Presents Billy Budd. Enjoy one of Benjamin Britten’s most epic operas on Sunday, July 12 at 2 p.m.

A comic tale of disguise, seduction and the victory of virtue is richly portrayed in Des Moines Metro Opera Presents Le Comte Ory. Experience a stellar cast performing some of opera’s most challenging vocal fireworks on Sunday, July 19 at 2 p.m. 

Each performance will premiere online simultaneously with the broadcast, and be available for on-demand viewing for 45 days. Viewers across the world can tune in on iowapbs.org, the PBS Video App, Facebook and YouTube. The PBS Video App is available on iOS and Android devices, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV and Google Chromecast.

While it would normally be bad form to chat throughout a performance, online viewers are encouraged to interact using the Facebook and YouTube live chat functions. Audiences on social media may be treated to surprise special guests!

Programming support for Des Moines Metro Opera Virtual Festival is provided by the Daniel and Ann Krumm Charitable Trust, Lauridsen Family Foundation, Thomas and Linda Koehn Foundation, Frank Brownell III Rev. Family Trust, PMC Grand L.C. and Iowa PBS Foundation.