Category Archive Performers

Tell us about your group.

This is Cantilena Choir, one of six ensembles that make up the Heartland Youth Choir. Cantilena Choir features singers in grades 3 – 5 from throughout Central Iowa. In addition to local performances throughout the year, Cantilena Choir also tours regionally each year. Last summer, we participated in the KidZing Choral Festival in Sioux City.

Heartland Youth Choir is celebrating its 17th year of providing top-quality music education to Iowa children, ages 4 to 18. Learn more at our website: www.joinhyc.org

What are you most looking forward to at Christkindmarket Des Moines?

Our singers enjoy the excitement of the large audience, the wonderful tented stage, and the street market atmosphere. We’re looking forward to exploring the new event location at Principal Park. Our singers are eager to share traditional holiday favorites as well as choral music they have prepared for our WinterSongs holiday concert.

What’s your favorite thing about performing at events like this?

Heartland Youth Choir strives to offer young singers unique performance opportunities just like Christkindlmarket Des Moines. It’s a chance for these young people to engage with the larger community through music and to make memories along the way. Our singers and their families love to stick around after performing to enjoy the rest of the festival.

Tell us about your group

The Central Iowa Wind Ensemble was started in 2002 by a group of local music educators. Over the years our group has grown to 50 members and includes musicians from a wide variety of musical backgrounds and occupations. We play 3-4 concerts a year in the Des Moines area.

What are you most looking forward to at Christkindlmarket Des Moines?

Christkindlmarket Des Moines is unique for us because it does not feature our full 50 member ensemble. It’s an opportunity to spotlight our brass section players and gives listeners who maybe haven’t heard us before a chance to find out about us.

What’s your favorite thing about performing at events like this?

Our brass section plays a variety of chamber music and holiday favorites. It’s a great way to spread holiday cheer and a love for classical/traditional music with the Des Moines area.

Anything else you’d like to share?

Check us out on Twitter, Facebook and our website www.ciwe.org. This year we have some exciting changes coming to our organization so stay tuned for behind the scenes looks, concert information and the latest news.

Tell us about your group

Barefoot Becky & the Ivanhoe Dutchmen perform as a 2 to 5 person group. For Christkindlmarket Des Moines, we will be performing with our 3-piece group which consists of accordion, guitar/banjo and drums. The band has been playing for over 30 years. One of our highlights was performing on the National Mall in Washington, DC for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1996.

What are you most looking forward to at Christkindlmarket Des Moines?

We like the idea of celebrating our German Heritage and creating the European style Christmas market with the food and music. It’s a chance to expose our band to people that may not know we exist and share our music with them! Hopefully our music makes it the icing on the cake that makes an already fun event even better. 

Tell us about your group and what to expect from your performance

Founded in 1961, SG Edelweiß-St. Paul is a Bavarian Dance group, comprised of many multi-generational families. Dressed in traditional Bavarian outfits, this award winning group will perform dances from throughout Germany and Austria. Their repertoire consists of the Schuhplattler, Figurentanz and Laendler, typical dances seen throughout Southern Germany and Austria.

What are you most looking forward to at the 2019 Christkindlmarket Des Moines?

Showing and explaining to the people of Des Moines and the surrounding areas that come to Christkinkdlmarket Des Moines what this type of traditional dance looks like. Visiting with everyone we met last year!

What do you enjoy most about this type of venue or crowd? 

The appreciation of the crowd in learning about us and watching us perform. Shopping at the other vendors booths that are participating.  

Anything else you’d like to share?

We look forward to the new venue and sharing our German heritage with everyone.

Tell us about your group

The Metro Brass Quintet has five members – two trumpets, a French horn, trombone, and bass trombone. The group has been together since 2014 and still has 4/5 original members! We are comprised of music teachers and working professionals that all have degrees in music and play in a variety of groups in the Des Moines area.

What are you most looking forward to at Christkindlmarket Des Moines?

We look forward to playing at Christkindlmarket Des Moines every year because of the Gemütlichkeit. It’s a fun crowd and a really nice way to spend a December afternoon.

What’s your favorite thing about performing at events like this?

Our favorite thing about playing for events is being able to share a variety of music with the audience and connect with them to make the event special and memorable.

Anything else you’d like to share?

We’ve been performing each year of Christkindlmarket Des Moines and we are happy to be a part of the tradition!

Tell us about your group

The band was founded by Thomas S. Coulson, a distinguished piper, who served during World War II, as a pipe major with the Essex Scottish 4th Brigade of Canada and as a piper in the Seaforth HIghlanders. He moved to Des Moines during the 1980s and founded the Mackenzie HIghlanders Pipes and Drums at that time. We are a paramilitary pipe and drum band and our uniforms are steeped in traditional attire worn both on Scottish and American soil. Our tartan is Ancient Mackenzie. We regularly perform at local events and parades in support of the military, active and reserve, law enforcement agencies and fire departments. Currently we have 9 members, with some members having performed with the group since it began to those only being with the group for the past year.

What are you most looking forward to at Christkindlmarket Des Moines?

Being able to perform for a new audience, both those familiar with bagpipe music and those who aren’t

What’s your favorite thing about performing at events like this?

Being able to introduce new people to the music of the Great Highland Bagpipes and being able to be involved with the community.

Tell us about your group

The DSM Dueling Fiddles are comprised of two violinists, Hanna Wolle and Genevieve Salamone. We have been performing together for almost five years, but have both separately been playing the violin for over 20 years! Hanna started playing the violin when she was four, and Genevieve when she was ten. We decided to begin playing together after connecting and becoming friends through both playing in the Des Moines Symphony. The DSM Dueling Fiddles was a passion project that has turned into so much more! Genevieve takes the lead in writing our arrangements and producing our layered accompaniment, and Hanna handles the business side of the endeavor. Our most exciting recent performance was at Bacon Fest this past year, where we performed on an entertainment stage and then were the featured musicians in the night club, where we played with professional DJs. We are looking forward to bringing our music to the audiences at Christkindlmarket Des Moines this December!

What are you most looking forward to at Christkindlmarket Des Moines?

We are most looking forward to engaging with the crowd and helping to create a festive atmosphere at the market through our music and performance! Christkindlmarket Des Moines is also a unique festival in Des Moines, and we are excited to explore the market and all the different things it offers in our spare time!

What’s your favorite thing about performing at events like this?

Our favorite thing about performing at events like Christkindlmarket Des Moines is sharing our music. Our passion is creating and sharing our music, and it’s the greatest feeling to walk away from a performance knowing the audiences enjoyed our music. We put so much time and effort into creating our music and perfecting our performances, and seeing just one excited face in the audience makes it worth it for us!

Anything else you’d like to share?

Thank you for the opportunity to play. We can’t wait!

Des Moines European Heritage Association invites you to become a performer at the 4th Annual Christkindlmarket Des Moines taking place December 6 – 8, 2019 at Principal Park.

In its first three years, this cultural experience has attracted over 95,000 visitors.

If you have applied in the past, but were not accepted, we encourage you to complete an application each year. The programming committee takes several factors into consideration when choosing the slate of performers each year.

Performances typically seen at Christkindlmarkets include (but are not limited to): European folk music players, European folk music singers, yodeling, guitarist, accordionist, clogging, folk dancers, Scottish pipes & drums, high school choirs, children’s choirs, violinists, bell choirs, church choirs, story-tellers, brass bands, alpine horn blowers, marionette/ puppeteer, Schuhplattler Verein, vocal performances in European languages, harpists, etc. We will provide a four-sided, forced-air heated tent at a location to be determined by Christkindlmarket Des Moines event planning committee in Principal Park’s Main Lot. A lighted stage within the tent will be provided. The size of the stage in 2018 was 30’ x 16’.

Our performer guide will give you an overview of the needs assessment process and requirements. As soon as you fill out the needs assessment, it will be reviewed.

What is the timeline for the process?

1. Fill out the online needs assessment no later than March 15, 2019
2. Send photographs representing you or your group to – christkindlmarketdsm@gmail.com
3. Receive feedback from Christkindlmarket Des Moines staff by April 15, 2019