Celebrating a Century
CMA’s 100th Season starts with heavy hors d'oeuvres, drinks, and a short program of live music, featuring the world premiere of American composer Matthew Quayle's new piece by the Belin Quartet.
Friday, October 3, 2025
6:00 PM / PROGRAM TO BEGIN AT 6:45 PM
HERITAGE CENTER
120 E 5th St, Des Moines, IA 50309
Our Mission
Our mission is to engage, enrich and educate the central Iowa community through provocative, world-class musical performances by legends and rising stars.
Season History1925 to Today.
For 99 continuous years, Civic Music Association (CMA) has brought world-renowned artists to Des Moines and central Iowa, offering unforgettable and life-changing artistic and educational experiences. The 1925 was a historic one for Des Moines and its music lovers, for it was then that Civic Music was born. For this, a great debt is owed three far-sighted women - Gertrude Shloss, Elizabeth Cowles, and Elsa Neumann - who didn’t see why the citizens of Des Moines should be deprived of hearing performances by the many great musical artists of the time, artists who appeared regularly in Chicago, St. Louis and Minneapolis, but for whatever reason, tended to bypass Des Moines on their travels.
Still vibrant and thriving today, CMA carries on the tradition of its founders and is one of the nation’s longest continuous running cultural organizations.
