Des Moines Symphony performs “Strength – Scottish Highlands & Eroica,” pairing Scottish folk music with Beethoven’s groundbreaking Eroica

DES MOINES, IA — The Des Moines Symphony’s third Masterworks program of the 2025–2026 season, Strength – Scottish Highlands & Eroica, will be performed at 7:30 PM on Saturday, November 22, and 2:30 PM on Sunday, November 23, 2025, at the Des Moines Civic Center (221 Walnut Street, Des Moines).

The program opens with Malcolm Arnold’s Four Scottish Dances, a lively and witty suite brimming with the spirit of traditional Scottish folk music. The concert continues with Max Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy, featuring acclaimed American violinist Stefan Jackiw in his Des Moines debut. Jackiw’s passionate artistry and expressive tone promise to bring Bruch’s soaring melodies and virtuosic passages vividly to life. The program concludes with one of the most celebrated symphonies ever written, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, “Eroica.” A monumental work that forever changed the course of music history, the Eroica is a triumphant expression of strength, heroism, and humanity.

ABOUT STEFAN JACKIW

Stefan Jackiw is one of America’s foremost violinists, renowned for his deeply expressive playing, immaculate technique and intellectual depth. Praised by the Boston Globe for music-making of “uncommon musical substance,” he has performed as a soloist with leading orchestras including the Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco symphonies, among many others.

In the 2024-2025 season, Jackiw performed across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. He returned to the Cleveland Orchestra for Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with Santtu-Matias Rouvali, and to the Chicago Symphony under Marin Alsop. Additional highlights include appearances with the Copenhagen Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Dresden Philharmonic, and Suwon Philharmonic in Korea. He also releases the complete violin sonatas of Charles Ives with pianist Jeremy Denk on Nonesuch, which The New Yorker calls “a new standard.”

Jackiw is a founding member of the acclaimed Junction Trio with pianist Conrad Tao and cellist Jay Campbell. The trio returns to 92NY and tours widely, performing both classical masterworks and new commissions, including a world premiere by John Zorn. A committed chamber musician, Jackiw also serves as Artistic Director of the Hawaii Chamber Music Festival.

He has premiered major works by composers including Conrad Tao and David Fulmer, and has appeared at renowned venues and festivals such as Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw, Ravinia, Aspen, Mostly Mozart, and the Philharmonie de Paris.

Born in Boston to Korean and Ukrainian physicist parents, Jackiw began violin at age four. He studied with Zinaida Gilels, Michèle Auclair and Donald Weilerstein. Holding degrees from Harvard University and the New England Conservatory and is a recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant. He performs on a violin made by Domenico Montagnana, “ex. Ross” c. 1730, and resides in New York City.

CONCERT DETAILS

Strength – Scottish Highlands & Eroica
Sat Nov 22 7:30 PM & Sun Nov 23 2:30 PM
Des Moines Civic Center

Joseph Giunta, conducting
Stefan Jackiw, violin

Program
ARNOLD Four Scottish Dances
BRUCH Scottish Fantasy
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, “Eroica”

CONCERT TICKETS

Single tickets range from $22 to $89.60 and are available at dmsymphony.org (until two hours prior to each performance) or through the Civic Center Ticket Office (515.246.2300), open 10 AM–5 PM Monday through Friday and two hours before performances. Single tickets (excluding student rush tickets) increase by $5 on the day of the concert.

Student tickets are half-price in all sections with valid student ID. Student rush tickets, subject to availability, are $5 for junior high and high school students and $10 for all other students, available the day of the concert at the Civic Center Ticket Office.

LEARN MORE

Audiences can explore the music performed in each Masterworks concert through the Symphony’s DMSO Remix podcast (available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts) or by attending free Concert Prelude Talks led by Dr. Eric McIntyre, Professor of Music at Grinnell College, held 45 minutes before each concert in the Prairie Meadows (East) Lobby.

MORE INFORMATION

For complete program details for all future concerts, please use the links below:

– Nov 22 & 23 Masterworks 3: Strength – Scottish Highlands & Eroica
– Dec 20 & 21: Holiday Brass Concert (Westminster Presbyterian Church)
– Dec 31: New Year’s Eve Pops: Cirque in Space
– Feb 14 & 15: Masterworks 4: Love – Romeo & Juliet
– Mar 14 & 15: Masterworks 5: Reflection – Smetana & Beethoven
– Apr 18 & 19: Masterworks 6: Hope – Copland & Gershwin
– May 9 & 10: Masterworks 7: Courage – Alpine Symphony

For season information and visitor tips, including parking and accessibility, visit dmsymphony.org/about/plan-your-visit.