In Remembrance

With heavy hearts, Des Moines Metro Opera shares the loss of our beloved Founder and Artistic Director Emeritus, Robert L. Larsen. He passed away peacefully in Indianola on Sunday, March 21, 2021. Our hearts go out to his family, friends and former students at this time of immense sorrow.

Visionary conductor and stage director Robert Larsen was born in Walnut, Iowa, in 1934. Against the backdrop of that rural Iowa community, he developed an unlikely interest in opera. Early in his career, he declined an offer from the Metropolitan Opera in order to remain in his home state to share his love for music and theatre with his fellow Iowans. Dr. Larsen believed that quality performances of great music should not exist exclusively in America’s largest cities, but could belong to everyone. With that in mind, in March of 1973 and with little time to spare, he selected opera titles, hired singers, formed a board of directors and raised $22,000 to launch Des Moines Metro Opera just a few months later on June 22, 1973. That first season, professional singers worked alongside his students to create something out of nothing via sheer determination and loyalty to their beloved leader.  Larsen served as Conductor and Stage Director for every one of the nearly 120 productions for the Company’s first 38 seasons – an unparalleled accomplishment in American music. He worked and collaborated with more than a thousand singers, orchestra musicians, designers, technicians, and he motivated colleagues to reach the peak of their own capabilities. Today as the company he founded approaches its 50th Anniversary Season, he remained immensely proud of its next generation and the Company's continued success following his retirement in 2009.

His love of Iowa and great music was boundless. Nothing delighted him more than great singing and marvelous young voices. His passion for music-making inspired all those who had the opportunity to work alongside him including artists, colleagues, students and members of the community. He instilled in them the same awe and wonder that surrounded his earliest memories of music and the joys of his life. The strength of his vision to bring quality opera performances to Iowa brought thousands of people to this magnificent art form, forever changing the lives of so many. He will live on in our hearts forever.

Read Dr. Larsen's Obituary

Memorial Services
Visitations will be held on Friday, March 26, from 3-8pm at the Overton Funeral Home in Indianola and on Saturday, March 27, from 9:00-10:30am at the First Presbyterian Church in Walnut, IA. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, no public graveside service is planned. When it is safe to do so, Des Moines Metro Opera will host a Memorial Concert to celebrate this extraordinary life. Further details will be available at a later date.

Memorial
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Robert L. Larsen Scenic Fund at the Des Moines Metro Opera Foundation, which provides annual funding to support the design and construction of new scenery and original productions each season.

Make a Memorial Contribution
Dr Larson created an artistic institution in our community through his talents, passions and perseverance. His greatest achievement is that today under the leadership that he developed, DMMO is stronger and more critical that at any time in it’s history. He has truly left a legacy and not a memorial in our community. He will never be gone.... he will now occupy a new place in our hearts, minds and souls. So lucky to have known and worked with such a wonderful person....
– Bill Niebur
In September of 1976, my life was forever changed. That day, I interviewed with Douglas Duncan, Managing Director, and Robert Larsen, Artistic Director, of DMMO - known then as the Des Moines Metro Summer Festival of Opera - and they hired me. I was privileged to know and work closely with both these gentlemen. After Doug's passing in 1988, I was named DMMO's Executive Director. Over the next 19 years, Robert and I constantly challenged each other to develop all areas of the Company's ever-growing footprint. With unparalleled support from the artistic community worldwide and the most loyal of opera...
– Jerilee M. Mace
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The Opera World has lost one its its best champions. It was my great pleasure to have worked at DMMO for the wonderful 1993,1994,1995 seasons. When I auditioned for Robert in NYC, he smiled and said “I have been looking for a Regina for many years, and I just found her.” What music to my singer’s ears. Robert made me feel like I was a great artist. He elevated his singers to his very high level and we all did our very best because he loved us all and made us all feel appreciated and special. While we were rehearsing,...
– Sally Williams
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Matt Oltman's Testimonial
I was twelve, and I was asked by the director of the Des Moines Youth Chorus, Eugene Wilson, if I would go to Indianola to audition for a role in an opera that I mistakenly thought was called "The Taming of the Shrew." If fact, it was "The Turn of the Screw," a confusion that I would look back upon with irony for all my life. I met Dr. Larsen (I have never called him by anything else), some spring day in 1987. I remember this: I was ushered into his studio alone; he apologized that he was wearing paint-bespeckled...
– Matt Oltman
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