The Civic Center is home to the Des Moines Symphony and hosts major traveling shows and acts. It seats more than 2,700.

Restored building appeals to a range of visitors. Theatrical performances are scheduled, in addition to regular events by the Iowa Youth Chorus and the Des Moines Symphony Academy. The Grand Hall and Recital Hall are available for special occasion rental.

One of the city's most eclectic music venues, Vaudeville Mews hosts concerts by local acts and emerging and established regional and national acts. The bar has no set hours, usually opening about an hour before scheduled shows. Most concerts range from $5 to $8, with some larger shows being more expensive, with advance tickets sold through Iowatix. Many shows 21+.

The 17,000-seat Wells Fargo Arena is home to all kinds of large-scale indoor events in Des Moines: Iowa Energy basketball games, Barnstormers arena football, high school and college basketball tournaments, major concerts, monster trucks ... just about anything you can imagine. Some compare the silver building to a spaceship, but inside it's your standard arena with stadium seating and concession stands.

The Greater Des Moines Music Coalition (DMMC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and collaborative movement committed to building a stronger and more diverse live music economy in greater Des Moines.

Our mission is to aggressively advocate, sponsor, and develop an independent, progressive live music economy in greater Des Moines for the purpose of urban revitalization, regional economic development, and the retention of our region's youth and future.

How did 80/35 begin? 
Less than a decade ago downtown Des Moines was almost lifeless. Few promoters booked shows. Small venues had poor turnout. And acts simply passed by on the way to Chicago or Minneapolis.

In 2004, the non-profit Greater Des Moines Music Coalition was founded with the goal of creating a live music economy and reenergizing the city. The centerpiece? A major urban music festival.

You’ll find your favorite music playing on the many stages of the Iowa State Fair. Whether it’s a Grandstand show or one of our free stages, taking in a show is a great time to sit back, relax and let us entertain you.

The Des Moines Symphony Orchestra is Central Iowa’s largest and most active professional performing arts producing organization. Led by Music Director Joseph Giunta, the Orchestra has established an outstanding national reputation as one of the country’s leading regional orchestras, performing a regular series of Masterworks, Pops, Family, and Education Concerts, as well as performing for special events. With the establishment in 2003 of the Des Moines Symphony Academy, the organization is one of only a handful of American orchestras to sponsor an Academy of Music as an integral part of its core mission and the Symphony & Academy together are now the largest employer of professional artists in Iowa.

The Central Iowa Wind Ensemble was founded in 2002 by a group of central Iowa music educators under the leadership of Dr. Evan Feldman, who led the group until 2005. The ensemble maintains a strong contingent of educators, but membership has expanded to include musicians from a wide variety of musical backgrounds and occupations. Members are from the greater Des Moines and surrounding areas.

The Central Iowa Wind Ensemble is a charitable fine arts organization dedicated to providing opportunities for listening to, and participating in, outstanding performances of wind band music. We do this by assembling musicians of advanced proficiency, performing concerts throughout the community, and reaching out to young and/or disadvantaged audiences.

Currently led by Music Director and Conductor, Carl Johnson, the Des Moines Community Orchestra was founded by Dr. Janice Wade in 1976, gathering together interested area musician acquaintances. The first concert featured guest percussion soloist, Drake faculty member Larry Kaptain, playing the Milhaud percussion concerto. Interest in the orchestra continued to grow, and the fledgling group could be found rehearsing and performing all around town, encouraged by donations of time, space and financial assistance from members and supporters.

Each December since 1986, the Des Moines Community Orchestra has presented a sing-along performance of Handel’s Messiah in which the audience sings the chorus parts of Messiah. Often a guest conductor leads the performance. This tradition has given talented vocal leaders the opportunity to conduct the orchestra, and to shape the performance of one of the great vocal compositions

Our mission: TO PRODUCE opera as a living art form through performance and composition, TO OFFER a stage for American-trained principal artists, TO PROVIDE a high-caliber Apprentice Artist experience that provides extraordinary opportunities for young emerging artists to perform and to participate, and TO DEVELOP regional audiences of all ages through educational outreach programs.

The Greater Des Moines Community Band was established in October 1987 by Dr. Carroll Childs who was then Supervisor of Music for the Des Moines Public Schools. The second conductor as Jimmy Selland, retired Coordinator of Music for the West Des Moines Community Schools. In the fall of 1991, Vic Anderson became Music Director. Our assistant conductor, Ms. Christa Miller, a member of the euphonium section, is Director of Bands at Mt. Olive Lutheran School. The band has grown from 20 members to the present 60+ who range in age from 16 to 81. The band rehearses for 1 1/2 hours each Monday in preparation for the Fall, Winter and Spring Sunday concerts at the Hoover High Auditorium and to prepare for the annual Summer Concert Series. Due to popular demand, the summer concert series has grown to some 14 performances throughout the greater Des Moines area, including Adel, Norwalk, West Des Moines, Windsor Heights, Boone, Indianola, Bondurant and the Iowa State Fair.