Michael Egel's journey from small-town Iowa to Des Moines Metro Opera leader.
For more than 30 years, Michael Egel has helped shape the future of Des Moines Metro Opera. From his beginnings in small-town Iowa to leading one of the nation's most respected opera companies, Egel has championed artistic excellence, American works, and the belief that world-class art can thrive in Iowa.
Transcript
[MICHAEL EGEL] We at Des Moines Metro Opera, I think are in a small but select group of opera companies in North America that are on an upward trajectory that have been gathering financial and artistic strength over the last 15 years or so.
[MICHAEL EGEL] That repertory format, that idea of being able to come to Iowa and see three operas each summer, was an ideal model that was set up at our founding. And the way I began to refresh it was to make sure that a couple of those pieces every year were really unusual and new things that might draw people from around the world.
[MICHAEL EGEL] A successful summer opera festival in a small rural community that succeeds on an international level, that is so utterly improbable and unbelievable. And the only way it works is because of the thousands of people over the years who have really contributed to the dream of this company.
[MICHAEL EGEL] We have a very long commitment of presenting American operas. In fact, it goes back to our founding in 1973 and has been with us since then. To be able to turn to Of Mice and Men, this great classic story by John Steinbeck and Carlisle Floyd at America 250 is a special treat. Of Mice and Men was a novella that was written in 1937 and another depression era story by Steinbeck. Four companies have pooled resources to share this production. There will be elements to our performances, I'm proud to say, will be only DMMO specific. Anytime we can have John Moore with us, it's a homecoming of sorts.
[JOHN MOORE] I grew up in the Iowa Great Lakes region in Milford, Iowa, at the southern tip of the Lake Okoboji area. And it is awesome that I get to now participate in Of Mice and Men to dig deep into the gritty and tragic and hopeful story of America.
[MICHAEL EGEL] I've been at the helm of the company more or less now for about 15, 16 years. I became artistic director in 2010 and general director in 2013. There have been many opportunities to do the same sort of work elsewhere and in other organizations, but I feel a real deep commitment to this organization, to this state.
[MICHAEL EGEL] I was born in Estherville, Iowa. I had formative years in theater in the Spencer Iowa Community School District and then went to high school in Algona, Iowa, which is my hometown. I found a place in the theater and even though I didn't really know what I could offer at that point in time, they still let me come into the fold and I just couldn't leave. They couldn't get rid of me once I got there, so I'll always be grateful for that.
[PAUL WIGLEY] Michael always worked harder than everybody, and he was never shy about kind of expecting everyone to work as hard as him. You had to up your game a little bit. He led by his creativity and by his passion for making anything just a little bit more vibrant and able to connect to the audience.
[MICHAEL EGEL] When I graduated from high school, in my yearbook, it said, where do you imagine that you will be in 20 years? And I wrote either the next great Broadway star or another out of work actor living in the streets of New York. So that didn't -- it didn't quite work out that way. I began at Des Moines Metro Opera during the summer of 1994. I was a Simpson College student. I was asked to stay on to work for the opera company in the summer. I like to say that I learned the company from the ground up. So, for four or five summers I worked as an intern, even coming back while I was in grad school. There are very few aspects of this company on all sides of the curtain from fundraising, to being on stage, to being in an orchestra pit, to working in costumes, to calling stage management cues, to running a spotlight, there are very few things I haven't done in some way or another. I didn't come from a musical family. In fact, my family, who still live in Northern Iowa, I think still probably scratched their heads a little bit that my life and career path turned towards music and specifically opera, because there was no way to have predicted that.
[MICHAEL EGEL] In recent years, we've been fortunate to do two world premieres here at Des Moines Metro Opera. In 2022, we were fortunate to present the world premiere of A Thousand Acres, based on the Jane Smiley novel. And in 2024, we presented the world premiere of American Apollo by Damien Geter and Lila Palmer. I believe it's our responsibility to add to the canon and to continue to contribute our voice, a uniquely Iowa voice, to the world's operatic literature.
[MICHAEL EGEL] I am just the luckiest person in the world. People have been there for me and have made it possible. I absolutely was shaped by the fact that the wind was behind me and the sky was the limit.