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Orchestra Iowa mobility gaining regional attraction

By Tim Kenyon

Displacement by the flood of 2008 has led to decreased ticket sales for Orchestra Iowa, but the greater market reach brought by performing beyond the organization’s traditional downtown Cedar Rapids space will compensate, according to Executive Director Robert Massey.

Orchestra Iowa’s ticket sales are down about 20 percent since the flood.

“But, obviously, expanding to Iowa City has opened up the whole south end of the Corridor to us and literally doubled our reach,” he says.

The symphony plays occasionally at the West High School auditorium. It also went northeast and performed at the Elkader Opera House last October.

“We’re getting out to communities not previously served by classical music to this level and these are great opportunities to reach new audiences, so we’re optimistic about the future,” Massey says.

Orchestra Iowa also went outdoors in Cedar Rapids with performances at Veterans Memorial Stadium and on the lawn at Brucemore. The Sinclair Auditorium at Coe College is another setting for concerts.

Other facilities used since the flood have included Englert Theatre in Iowa City, First Assembly of God Church at 3320 Blairs Ferry Rd. NW and Zion Lutheran Church in Hiawatha.

Continued adjustment to performing at multiple venues is the short-term focus for classical musical organization.

The office and most of the symphony education programs have returned to downtown. Many downtown businesses and organizations have returned to downtown in the past 19 months since the flood.

“But there is no new normal post-flood for us, yet. We’re kind of taking each situation as it comes,” Massey says. “The Paramount will be restored in 36 to 48 months. It’s a great opportunity to see the Paramount transformed to a true orchestra hall, so we’re excited about that future.”

Meantime, the versatility and dedication of the staff generates kudos from Tim Charles, board president of Orchestra Iowa.

“First of all, the ability of Robert Massey and Tim Hankewich (music director) to adjust to circumstances that they’ve been faced with, is truly remarkable and a testament to extraordinary creativity and agility,” says Charles, president and CEO of Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids.

He noted Massey had the extra challenge of getting familiar on the run as he arrived and started his job mere days before the flood.

Charles said using multiple venues and playing to crowds in the thousands at the two Brucemore events are important objectives as the organization transitions from formerly being known as the Cedar Rapids Symphony to Orchestra Iowa.

“It’s the hope of every symphony orchestra to develop and grow audiences and we’re doing that,” he says.
Using a variety of settings and untraditional venues after a name change as it aims to be more a regional organization isn’t the norm.

“I’m extremely impressed,” Charles says about the organization’s handling of the situation.

After spending a year in temporary office space at Turner’s East, the Grant Wood House provided by Cedar Memorial and the Linge Family, orchestra administrative personnel returned to the renovated third floor of the Symphony Center.

The offices were on the ground level previously. The main level now features an enhanced ticket office and the Rockwell Collins Recital Hall.

This article originally appeared in the Corridor Business Journal.