Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra bridges communities, generations
By Diana Nollen for the Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra
WASHINGTON, Iowa – Robert McConnell has one foot in a hog barn and the other on a concert stage.
As music director and conductor of the Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra for 34 years, his job is to bridge worlds, bringing the joys of classical music, modern classics and new works to a largely rural area. It’s anchored by venues in Ottumwa, Mount Pleasant and Burlington, drawing audiences and professional musicians from southeast Iowa, northeast Missouri, western Illinois, from Cedar Rapids to the Quad Cities and beyond.
The ensemble’s 74th “Greatest Hits” season continues March 8 and 9 with works that will sound familiar to many audience members, even if they haven’t experienced a live orchestral concert, including Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8.
“This season is all about performing music that you know, recognize or will remember for years to come,” McConnell said on the orchestra’s website. “It’s about making you feel welcome at our concerts because the music is familiar and enjoyable. . . .
“Few composers connect the heart, mind and soul like Antonin Dvorak. His joyful and lyrical Eighth Symphony is no exception.”
The program also includes “Illuminare” by Des Moines composer Elaine Hagenberg, whose works have been performed around the world. “(Audiences) will be awestruck by the grandeur” of this piece, McConnell noted. And Kaylee Blunier of Nauvoo, Ill., the orchestra’s Young Artist Competition winner, will perform Carl Maria von Weber’s Concertino for Clarinet.
Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. March 8 in Burlington’s Capitol Theater; 2 p.m. March 9 in Ottumwa’s Bridge View Center; and 6:30 p.m. March 9 in Mount Pleasant’s Chapel Auditorium on the former Iowa Wesleyan campus. Tickets are $20 for adults and free for students, at the door or online at www.seiso.us.
Ticket prices are kept low to make the concerts more affordable. The non-profit ensemble, with an operating budget of $300,000, also relies on donations, grants and a sustaining fund. A recent $100,000 matching challenge brought in more than $200,000 to continue the orchestra’s outreach for years to come.
CREATING COMMUNITY
Just as programming is designed to span the generations, from concerts to educational and rural outreach events, so do the ages and geography of the orchestra’s 70 musicians. That’s part of the appeal for principal violist Kylie Little, 26, a doctoral student at the University of Iowa in Iowa City.
The Chicago native found what she was missing when she joined the ensemble about a year and a half ago.
“The Southeast Iowa Symphony and its audiences bring to me a sense of community like none other than I’ve ever experienced,” she said.
“It’s just such a joy to see Bob (McConnell) engage with the audience and make them feel like they’re part of the experience, as well. Sometimes he’ll break down what we have played so they’ll hear how an orchestra is put together.
“I also love that I’m able to meet musicians from all walks of life and different generations, too,” she said. “To see folks that are a bit older than me continue to play with this group – I know there are some members who have played with it for 30-, 40-plus years — is really inspiring to me, that music can truly be a lifelong thing.”
Charlene King, 68, of Ottumwa grew up hearing the orchestra, and has found that lifelong connection. Serving as the group’s principal violinist, known as the concertmaster, gives her not only an outlet for her art, but an anchor in her life.
“So many of us have been there for so long, it really has gotten to be more like family than a musical group,” she said. That’s more personally satisfying for her than playing with “pick-up” orchestras that have a small core group of musicians, then “import” others for the final rehearsal and performances. “I never got much reward out of that,” she added.
She also appreciates that the Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra brings “another viewpoint” to the rural region’s cultural fabric.
“Imagine being in some of these smaller towns,” she said. “There’s no public school backing for string players. . . . “It’s just being able to expand their minds a little bit, to hear something they might normally not be able to hear around here at all. They do hear the younger music, a lot of bluegrass and country bands,” as well as bands at sporting events.
“The exposure is good,” King said. “I’m a strong believer that music increases your potential for knowledge.”
MCCONNELL’S CONNECTIONS
McConnell, 69, and his wife, Julie Peshkin, one of the ensemble’s bass players, moved to St. Louis when she was offered a job promotion. Both had been very involved with Washington’s school board and civic organizations while their two girls were young, but the timing was right for the couple to relocate in 2006.
These days, McConnell makes the 3 1/2-hour commute between cities on a regular basis, as the third generation to raise hogs on the family farm east of Washington. He’s the ninth of two boys and eight girls raised there, and now oversees a huge wean-to-finish operation with a partner, as well as 145 acres of crops, largely corn to feed about 21,000 hogs per year.
While that may seem poles apart for someone with a performing degree in oboe, conducting studies and teaching experience in Israel, living in two different worlds keeps McConnell grounded.
“The contrast between music and the difficulty of being on the farm … it’s a real break,” he said. “You appreciate it a lot more when you’re not (solely) working in music,” he said.
“I could devote full-time to the orchestra if I wanted to,” he said, calling it his “favorite job.” He’s not ready to give up the farm any time soon, and thrives on working hard.
“I’m getting by balancing it for now,” he said, hoping to continue wielding his baton into his 80s.
IF YOU GO
What: Southeast Iowa Symphony Masterworks 2
Burlington: 7:30 p.m. March 8, Capitol Theater, 211 N. Third St.
Ottumwa: 2p.m. March 9, Bridge View Center, 102 Church St.
Mount Pleasant: 6:30 p.m. March 9, Chapel Auditorium, 631 N. Main St.
Tickets: $20 adults, free for students, at the door or www.seiso.us
Lisa Lynn Christy, 51, of West Point, Iowa, passed away at 10:06 p.m. Wednesday, February 26, 2025, at her parent’s home near Wever, Iowa.