The Huey's (Part 5) Summary

The scores are tabulated and the results? (Scores are aggregate/averages)

6. Des Moines (IA) Symphony: 10
5. Dubuque (IA) Symphony: 11
4. Quad City Symphony (Davenport IA/Rock Island IL): 13
3. Madison (WI) Symphony: 13.125
2. Orchestra Iowa (Cedar Rapids IA): 14
1. WCF Symphony (Cedar Falls IA): 18.2

I have to admit a personal bias against seasons that try a common thread such as Dubuque's "Season of the Arts" and QC's river-based theme. It's just that something doesn't fit: Dubuque's "Music and Movement" has no ballet music (two opera overtures, two violin works, and Beethoven's Seventh Symphony). In the Quad Cities, a Michael Daugherty tuba concerto (Reflections on the Mississippi--ok that fits) is stuffed between Don Juan and the Eroica (those don't).

Two orchestras are tying out Bach, with QC offering the St. Matthew Passion and Orchestra Iowa taking on the so-called B-minor Mass. While sources on the ground have assured me that there will not be a "cast of thousands" in the QC choir, I note that the Adler Theater doesn't have an organ, subjecting the audience to what I refer to as an "appliance". (Forgive me, I am a erstwhile organist). In Cedar Rapids, will it be continuo parts on the Mighty Wurlitzer?

There are "bright lights" in many of the orchestras' seasons, something that would not have been said in previous years:

• The Madison Symphony is offering the Lutoslawski Concerto for Orchestra and guest conductor Carl St. Clair. As I've said before, I've rarely heard the Madison strings play more beautifully than in St. Clair's Mother Goose.

• Orchestra Iowa offers a Czech concert, with Janacek! (a welcome respite even if the rest: Mozart "Prague" and Dvorak 8 need no dusting off. There's also a great concert of American music as well as Branford Marsalis playing classical! (Many people don't realize that he has legit chops.)

• The Quad Cities gives some interesting programs, even if the sum of the parts don't always add up. Items of note include some new music and the "River of Life" concert.

• And then there is the WCF Symphony, Huey winner for the fourth consecutive year. Jason Weinberger and Co. are always breaking the mold: providing contexts for popular film music, offering chamber-sized pieces in more intimate settings, and even stretching the boundaries in an outdoor concert.

WCF Symphony at Waterloo's Brown Derby

Things are getting better and more original. Still, the music of our time remains underrepresented (and Ives is considered "contemporary"). Everyone talks about generating the next new audience for classical music, but few are doing much about it. That is the next challenge.