DMMO Announces Conductor Changes for 2026 Festival Season

Indianola, IA - Des Moines Metro Opera announced today that Christopher Allen will return to Des Moines Metro Opera to conduct the company's new production of Tosca. DMMO's Marshall and Judy Flapan Music Director and Principal Conductor, David Neely, will now conduct the company's co-production of Of Mice and Men in addition to the company premiere of King Roger. Neely replaces previously announced conductor Christopher James Ray who has withdrawn from the production due to scheduling conflicts with his upcoming appearance as conductor of The Carlisle Floyd Centennial Concert at Carnegie Hall.

"We are fortunate that an accomplished conductor such as Christopher Allen was available on short notice to return to us to lead our new production of Tosca with an extraordinary cast. I am also fortunate to have in our Music Director and Principal Conductor a colleague of great versatility whose previous experience with Floyd's opera has allowed him to step expertly into that role," said Michael Egel, the Linda Koehn General and Artistic Director. "All of us at DMMO join me in wishing Mr. Ray great success in the important concert at Carnegie Hall celebrating the Carlisle Floyd Centennial."

Reflecting on his return to the company, Allen said, "I've been thinking all year about the extraordinary artistic experience I had conducting Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress at Des Moines Metro Opera last summer. I'm thrilled to return to this remarkable company and to collaborate once again with its orchestra, artists, and staff in bringing Puccini's Tosca to life."

About Christopher Allen
Recipient of The Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award, Christopher Allen is featured in Opera News as "one of the fastest-rising podium stars in North America." He has led acclaimed operatic and symphonic performances with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Utah Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Virginia Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, Orquesta Clásica Santa Cecila, George Enescu Philharmonic, Tucson Symphony, Omaha Symphony, Atlanta Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Opera Omaha, Opéra de Montréal, English National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Washington National Opera, Detroit Opera, North Carolina Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Daegu Opera House in South Korea, Korean Symphony Orchestra, and China National Opera Orchestra and Chorus.

Upcoming highlights in the 2026-2027 season include re-engagements with Lyric Opera of Kansas City for La Bohème, Carmen with Atlanta Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, and concerts with Omaha Symphony, Tucson Symphony and George Enescu Philharmonic. In the fall, Allen conducts Manhattan School of Music's Semele. At the piano, Allen collaborates with Tenor Ben Bliss in a series of concerts at Vocal Arts DC, Park Avenue Avenue Armory, Musco Center at Chapman University, and Cal Performances at the University of California, Berkeley. As Artistic Director of Fourth Wall Ensemble, Allen leads a series of performances in New York City.

Allen demonstrates his commitment to education through his work with young artists at Los Angeles Opera, Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Aspen Music Festival, Manhattan School of Music, Northwestern University, New England Conservatory, Mannes School of Music, A.J. Fletcher Institute at University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and University of Missouri- Kansas City. He has been heard on NPR speaking about the importance of the arts in American society. As an award-winning pianist, he has performed at Carnegie Hall, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, on film in La voix humaine, starring Patricia Racette and directed by James Darrah, and in Emily, a production he created for Opéra de Montréal and performed at Wolf Trap.

Allen's career was launched by the Bruno Walter Conducting Award and Memorial Career Grant and has been fostered by Plácido Domingo and James Conlon, who brought him to Los Angeles Opera as Associate Conductor. At LA Opera, Allen led the musical preparation for the acclaimed The Ghosts of Versailles, which won a Grammy Award for Best Opera. Recognized as a Musical America Artist of the Month and one of their "25 Stars Still Rising," Allen is also an International Opera Awards nominee, and recent recipient of the Young Alumni Award from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Allen's artistic pursuits extend beyond his role as conductor. He is the Creative and Artistic Director of Fourth Wall Ensemble, an innovative vocal ensemble, which he founded in 2023. Under the Artistic leadership of Christopher Allen, Fourth Wall Ensemble redefines vocal performance, blending tradition with bold new artistic explorations. The ensemble's recent highlights include performances at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Death of Classical, Power Station at Berklee, The Cell Theatre, Avaloch Farm Music Institute, National Sawdust, in collaboration with Beth Morrison Projects in Paola Prestini's world premiere opera, Sensorium Ex, and at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. In the 2025-2026 season, the ensemble embarked on a West Coast Tour, and released a recording of Kaija Saariaho's Nuits, Adieux at National Sawdust+. Fourth Wall Ensemble can be heard on two recordings: Awake, and Ad Manus, the group's debut album created in partnership with GRAMMY® Award-winning trio Time for Three and five-time EMMY® Award-winning composer Jeff Beal (House of Cards).

Allen is a Recording Academy voting member, and serves on the Board of The Solti Foundation US.

About David Neely
Born in Dayton, Ohio, conductor David Neely has been described by Opera News as "a ninja warrior with a baton" (Opera News). He maintains an active career in symphonic, opera, ballet, and educational settings.

As the Marshall and Judy Flapan Music Director and Principal Conductor of Des Moines Metro Opera, a position he has held since 2012, Neely has elevated the company's musical profile and developed one of the nation's finest opera orchestras. He has led critically-acclaimed performances of a broad range of new and traditional repertoire that includes the recent world premiere of Kristin Kuster and Mark Campbell's A Thousand Acres, the in-person premiere of Damien Geter and Lila Palmer's American Apollo, regional Emmy award-winning productions of Manon and Billy Budd for Iowa PBS, and approximately 30 other works including Wozzeck, The Queen of Spades, Eugene Onegin, Rusalka, Jenůfa, Falstaff, Elektra, Peter Grimes, Dead Man Walking, Flight, Macbeth, Don Giovanni, Candide, The Girl of the Golden West, Turandot, and most recently Bluebeard's Castle and The Love for Three Oranges. He has led productions with Atlanta Opera, Sarasota Opera, Intermountain Opera, and numerous European opera houses including Bonn and Dortmund. His performances have been praised in Opera News, Opera Today, Opernwelt, the Chicago Tribune, and the Wall Street Journal.

Neely has led concerts with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Portland Symphony Orchestra, Dortmund Philharmonic, Bochumer Philharmoniker, Eutin Festival Orchestra, Bregenz Symphony Orchestra, and is a regular conductor with the D.C. area's Apollo Orchestra. He has led ballets with Dortmund Opera and the Indiana University Ballet Theater.

Neely is also Director of Orchestras at the University of Maryland School of Music, where recent highlights include Mahler's Symphony No. 2, Emilie Mayer's Symphony in F minor, Valerie Coleman's Umoja, Carlos Simon's The Block, Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5, Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra, and world premieres of Erich Stem's Kayak and Maria Newman's Our Rights and Nothing Less. He is a regular guest conductor and guest conducting teacher at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he previously served on faculty and most recently conducted Osvaldo Golijov's operatic masterwork, Ainadamar.

Concerto soloists with whom he has collaborated include Roberto Diaz, Ricardo Morales, David Chan, Rainer Honeck, Nicholas Daniel, Joshua Roman, Eric Kutz, Bella Hristova, Benjamin Beilman, Delfeayo Marsalis, Ben Lulich, and Phillipe Cuper. He has appeared as a collaborative pianist with numerous vocalists, including a recent recital with Joyce Castle and Schubert's Winterreise with David Adam Moore. He has served as a guest teacher with Washington National Opera's Cafritz Young Artist program, and was the conductor for Washington National Opera's American Opera Initiative in 2021. He recently appeared with the American Lyric Theater in New York and with the National Orchestra Institute + Festival.

About Des Moines Metro Opera
Lauded by The New York Times in 2025 as "one of the country's most ambitious and successful smaller companies," Des Moines Metro Opera is a professional opera company located in the heart of Iowa that has taken its place among America's leading opera festivals. Founded in 1973, DMMO is one of the largest performing arts organizations in the region, presenting over 100 performances across Iowa every year. Learn more about Des Moines Metro Opera.

The 2026 Festival Season runs June 26-July 19 and includes the return of Giacomo Puccini's Tosca, a centennial celebration of composer Carlisle Floyd with Of Mice and Men, and a company premiere of Karol Szymanowski's rarely performed Polish masterpiece, King Roger.

The Lauridsen Family Foundation is the Presenting Sponsor of the 2026 Festival Season.

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