When Joseph Giunta came to the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra in 1989, he wanted to bring the symphony to the public and expose people to the music. The Symphony performed at Living History Farms with Popcorn Pops to a crowd of 5,000 fans who tuned in to the free concert in April 1989.

“At the time, it was the biggest crowd we had ever played for,” said the music director and conductor of the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra.

But he had bigger plans – a patriotic concert for the public, performed outside the walls of the Des Moines Civic Center. Yankee Doodle Pops, now in its 28th year, was born in 1994. “You have to get these orchestras out of their buildings and into communities,” Giunta said, emphasizing his philosophy.

This year marks the return of the Yankee Doodle Pops to the steps of the Capitol. The show was discontinued in 2020 due to the pandemic. Last year, the symphony taped a version of the show for television even as live performances returned to the Civic Center with social distancing protocols in place.

“This music was written for people to hear,” Giunta said. “That audience gives us that extra incentive to do our best. We get energy from the audience. Nothing can replace a live performance.”

Previously: Des Moines Symphony’s Yankee Doodle Pops Returns July 2, But In Virtual Form

When Giunta took over the symphony orchestra after spending 14 seasons conducting the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra, Des Moines was a very different place.

“You kind of have to go back in time. Thirty years ago, Des Moines was not the city it is today,” Giunta said. People were driving downtown to work and then driving home, and the city didn’t offer the activities and restaurants that would keep people downtown.

In the 90s, that started to change for downtown Des Moines. More people started to live in the central part of the city. Restaurants have opened. People lived closer to their place of work in downtown businesses. And with that, the scope of the symphony grew.

“I strongly believe that the orchestra should be part of the fabric of the community. The orchestra was an important first step in bringing people back to downtown,” Giunta said, highlighting the role of the 72-member symphony orchestra in the city.

A look back: Iowa’s Favorite 4th of July Concert Celebrates 25 Years of Free Music and Fireworks

Twenty-eight years ago, the symphony began playing Yankee Doodle Pops on the steps of the Iowa State Capitol facing downtown. “We played in front of 20,000 people. That many didn’t pay to hear the symphony at the Civic Center,” he said.

The audience is growing. Now in his 33rd year leading the symphony, Giunta expects 100,000 people to attend the July 1 concert on the grounds of the State Capitol in what the organization calls the largest one-day concert in Iowa. The patriotic spectacle ends with a magnificent fireworks display over the downtown Des Moines skyline. And best of all, it’s free.

The Turner Center Jazz Orchestra with the new Des Moines Symphony Academy Jazz Orchestra kicks off the evening at 6:30 p.m., but people start arriving much earlier in the day.

Giunta recalled doing a 6 a.m. interview one year on the Capitol grounds and seeing a couple carrying their beach chairs and a cooler to stake out a location. “It’s our family reunion,” they told him. People bring picnic baskets, blankets and lawn chairs, and can buy food from vendors at the concert.

“I know the music we play isn’t for everyone,” Giunta said. “(Yankee Doodle Pops) isn’t just classic. Yankee Doodle Pops was a very important message that the orchestra was for everyone.

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At 8:30 p.m., the Des Moines Symphony takes the stage, playing a 68-minute performance that includes songs such as “Sir Duke” by Stevie Wonder and “I Got You (I Feel Good)” by James Brown, mixed with classics such as as “National Emblem March” by Edwin Eugene Bagley, “1812 Overture” by Tchaikovsky and “The Stars and Stripes Forever” by John Philip Sousa.

Actor and singer Matthew Johnson performs two sets, including songs such as “America the Beautiful” and other favorites, along with the symphony.

The invitation for a guest singer began 28 years ago when opera singer and Iowa native Simon Estes performed at the first Yankee Doodle Pops. He has joined the symphony at least 10 times over the years.

Related: Acclaimed Singer Simon Estes Announces Final Opera Performance and Iowa Premiere, in “Porgy and Bess”

Other notable Yankee Doodle Pops artists in the past include Jason Robert Brown, probably best known in Iowans for his musical adaptation of “The Bridges of Madison County,” and composer Peter Boyer, whose song “Fanfare for Tomorrow” is part of the 2022 line up.

Guest artist Billy Weathers, a local hip-hop singer, also joins the symphony. The Oh Say, can you sing? winner, selected before the concert through tryouts, performs “The Star-Spangled Banner”.

“It’s one of the great institutions of the state,” Giunta said. “Maybe people assume he’ll be there all the time, but when he was taken away there was a void.”

For those unable to attend the show, Iowa PBS and Iowa Public Radio will broadcast the event live.

Musicians playing everything from piccolos and tubas to violins and harp are once again ready to welcome live audiences. “When I give that beat on July 1, it’s going to be pretty special for the people that are there.”

Susan Stapleton is entertainment editor at the Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter or email him at [email protected]

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