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
I was fortunate enough to be a part of that first season of DMMO. I was Lady Billows to Doug Duncan's Albert Herring. Under Robert's specific, creative instructions, I made my own costumes and did whatever he asked to make that inaugural season a success. Robert taught me about the finer things in life, seeing opera at the Lyric in Chicago, dining in great restaurants and enjoying the museum that was his home. It goes without saying I would not be the musician and teacher I am today without the foundation I received from Dr. Larsen and Simpson College. He...
– Cherie Carl
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I remember meeting Dr Larsen for the first time at the 1979 Simpson prospective student's weekend. I was a young pianist/opera-enthusiast and I was an idiot; the years have changed only one of those attributes, LOL. So many fond memories of him at Simpson and at DMMO. Yes, everyone remembers the bees at "The Con" swarming and pooping on his "Romanticism in the Arts" blue book exams, the abundant solo/ensemble performance opportunities, the Christmas parties, the choir tours-of-death (raise your hand if you remember OD'ing on petrified Easter "Peeps"), the late-night singing of opera choruses to the beleaguered locals at...
– Roger Bethard
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The Opera World has lost a giant in Robert Larsen. The Maestro had an ability to wring out of me every drop of excellence I never knew I had. He gave me the foundation I needed to successfully sing in Europe and America. For that, I am forever grateful. I miss him already.
– Ida Huber Mitchell
I remember like it was yesterday when Ms. Jill Fleming, who performed with Dr. Larsen in NYC, heard me sing at DMAC. Right after the performance, they came up to me and said, “Highway, I have to take you to meet with Dr. Larsen. He needs to hear you.” Dr. Larsen and Dr. Maria Dipolma gave me a warm welcome and scheduled me for the audition. When the time came, my late wife Geni Stanley Sigadi took me because I didn’t have a car at the time. I sang my heart out when I finished, and they smiled and said,...
– Highway Sigadi
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