• Ticket Price
    $20-80
    Students Half Price
  • Duration
    1 hr 40 min
Wisdom – Dvořák 6 & Chopin

Wisdom – Dvořák 6 & Chopin

This Masterworks program features rhythmic drive and virtuosic grandeur. Impichchaachaaha’ Tate’s Chokfi, a vibrant, rhythmic work inspired by the trickster rabbit of Chickasaw legend, opens the concert. Lukáš Vondráček performs Chopin’s richly Romantic Second Piano Concerto. Lushly orchestrated Czech folk music comes to life in Dvořák’s Sixth Symphony.

DMSO Remix Podcast

The DMSO Remix Podcast features professor and professional musician Dr. Eric McIntyre discussing pieces that will be performed at each Masterworks weekend. Learn about the rich history of both contemporary and past composers and their Classical works as Dr. Eric McIntyre dives into why this music is so powerful and enduring.

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Event Sponsors

Guest Artist Sponsors

  • The Rosenberg Family in Honor of Audrey & Dr. Harlan Rosenberg

Supported in part by:

  • The Estate of Stanley Richards

Media Partner

Program

  • Jerod IMPICHCHAACHAAHA’ Chokfi’ Listen
  • CHOPIN Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor Listen
  • DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 6 in D Major Listen

Performers

  • Joseph Giunta Conductor Bio
  • Lukáš Vondráček Piano Bio

Tickets

Single tickets are $20-$80 and are available through Des Moines Performing Arts. Ticket prices are subject to a $5 increase on the day of the concert, excluding student rush tickets.

Student tickets are $7.50-$35 and are available through the Civic Center Ticket Office. Student rush tickets, subject to availability, are $5 for junior high and high school students and $10 for all other students the day of the concert through the Civic Center Ticket Office. One ticket sold per valid Student ID.

Learn More

Join us 45 minutes before the concert in the Prairie Meadows (East) Lobby for a free Concert Prelude Talk. Led by Dr. Eric McIntyre of Grinnell College, these discussions are complimentary to ticket holders and offer engaging and topical commentary on the featured program. 

Digital Program Books

In an effort to reduce our environmental impact and preserve natural resources, we now offer a Digital Program Book. Click here to read about the program, guests artists and composers featured this weekend.

Joseph Giunta

Joseph Giunta Conductor

One of America’s most distinguished, versatile and dynamic conductors, Joseph Giunta is a musician of international acclaim. He is recognized as an important American conductor for his innovative programming and for his compelling interpretations of traditional and new music. His musical depth combined with his boundless energy and contagious enthusiasm makes him one of the most respected and successful orchestra leaders in the United States.

Learn More About Maestro Giunta

Lukáš Vondráček

Lukáš Vondráček Piano

In a career spanning over two decades, the indisputable winner of the Grand Prix at the 2016 International Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition, Lukáš Vondráček has travelled the world and performed with the foremost orchestras such as The Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, West Australian Symphony, Tokyo Metropolitan, Frankfurt Radio, Czech Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Symphony and Oslo Philharmonic. He is a frequent collaborator of conductors such as Paavo Järvi, Gianandrea Noseda, Jakub Hrůša, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Marin Alsop, Christoph Eschenbach, Klaus Mäkelä, Michael Tilson Thomas, Giancarlo Guerrero, Manfred Honeck, Xian Zhang, Pietari Inkinen, Vasily Petrenko, Anu Tali, and Stéphane Denève, among many others.

In recitals, Lukáš has performed at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, the Flagey in Brussels, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, Wiener Konzerthaus, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and to renowned festivals such as Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Edinburgh International Festival, Chopin and his Europe, Le Piano Symphonique at KKL, PianoEspoo in Finland, Prague Spring Festival and Lille Piano Festival.

Lukáš Vondráček’s 2024/25 season highlights include frequent collaborations with Luzern Symphony Orchestra as he looks forward to the performances with them both in Lucerne and at the Dvořák Prague Festival.  This season Lukáš also rejoins his frequent collaborators Bamberg Symphony and Jakub Hrůša for performances across Asia. Further season highlights are performances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop, Copenhagen Philharmonic under Thomas Dausgaard, Orchestre National de Lille under Jean-Claude Casadesus, Dresden Philharmonic under Maxim Emelyanychev, Janáček Philharmonic under Daniel Raiskin and Prague Symphony Orchestra under Tomáš Brauner. Lukáš’s recitals this season include appearances at the Salle Philharmonique in Liège and at Flagey in Brussels.

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At the age of four Lukáš Vondráček made his first public appearance. As a fifteen-year-old in 2002 he made his debut with Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and Vladimir Ashkenazy which was followed by a major US tour in 2003. His natural and assured musicality and remarkable technique have long marked him out as a gifted and mature musician. He has achieved worldwide recognition by receiving many international awards, foremost first prizes at the Hilton Head and San Marino International Piano Competitions and Unisa International Piano Competition in Pretoria, South Africa, as well as the Raymond E. Buck Jury Discretionary Award at the 2009 International Van Cliburn Piano Competition.

Lukáš Vondráček obtained an Artist Diploma from Boston’s New England Conservatory under the tutelage of Hung-Kuan Chen, graduating with honours in 2012.