The American Center for Puccini Studies is in residence at the Plymouth County Historical Museum, providing regular arts and cultural programs for the Northwest Iowa community.
Join us at The Ply Co Museum (335 1st Ave SW, Le Mars, IA 51031) for weekly classes, concerts, and conversations. Most Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00.
Thursday evenings at 7:00 p.m. in Oct & Nov, Dr. Dunstan leads Journey's and Experiences of the Musical Mind
Here's our full schedule of cross-cultural events...something for EVERYONE!
Sunday, September 15 Meet the New Executive Directors! 2:00 p.m. Our new Executive Directors, Dr. Harry N. Dunstan and Ms. Kay Krekow, present “Sing Me A Song of Plymouth County: from the field to the heart”. This “luxury duo” sings a concert featuring the world’s most beloved folk songs and opera duets. Highlighted with poems and embodied listening, this program shares the stories of our lives and the musical narratives that bind us together in our common cultures and experiences. You’ll feel the thrill of emotion in their live, full-throated, operatic voices as they sing the songs “close binding humankind.” Come experience the new vibe at the PlyCo Museum!
Saturday, September 21 Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saëns 2:00 p.m. Lions and Tigers and…Swans?! Oh My! Join Dr. Dunstan’s musical safari! One of the most popular pieces of music ever written, The Carnival of the Animals creates a sonic zoo of roaring lions, swimming fish, braying donkeys, trumpeting elephants…and maybe even a buffalo or two!
(Cancelled) Sunday, September 22 Mr. Williams’ Wonderful World of Archeology 2:00 p.m. The Museum’s own Don Williams shares his exciting world of archeological wonders.
Saturday, September 28 What do you mean they didn’t have cell phones?! How home technologies have changed. 2:00 p.m. Dial Tone? Party Line? Rotary Phone? Wringer? Icebox? Learn the meaning of these strange concepts, once used every day! Led by Diane Nusbaum.
Sunday, September 29 How to Listen to Any Kind of Music and Really Get It 2:00 p.m. Do some kinds of music just not make any sense to you? Dr. Dunstan teaches you how to find the hidden, magical layers of sound and meaning in every kind of music.
Saturday, October 5 How to Listen to Music and Really get it! (Kid’s version) 2:00 p.m. Dr. Dunstan teaches you how to grow “bigger ears” for listening to music.
Sunday, October 6 She Is Music: Women Composers 2:00 p.m. Did you know women have been composing music for over a thousand years?! Kay Krekow, soprano, invites you to come meet some of the most fascinating women who ever lived!
Thursday, October 10 Journeys and Experiences of the Musical Mind: How Music Can Positively Transform Your Life Forever 7:00 p.m.Session 1: The Stairway to Paradise Dr. Dunstan helps you learn to experience and perceive music in new ways. Taught in six sessions, this series is designed to help you use music and the Arts to improve your mind and body. Come to one…come to all of them. This first session will explain the basic elements of music: melody, rhythm, tempo, harmony, etc.
Saturday, October 12 Mysteries at the Museum 2:00 p.m. Diane Nusbaum leads a tour of the Museum’s Most Mysterious Marvels.
Sunday, October 13 All Aboard! 2:00 pm. Train conductor and long-time Museum volunteer, Brian Nitzschke, leads the dedication of our Train Station Exhibit. Woohoo!
Thursday, October 17 Journeys and Experiences of the Musical Mind: How Music Can Positively Transform Your Life Forever 7:00 p.m. Session 2: Why does the sound of that ol’ banjo make me want to stamp my feet and sing? Why does some music make you want to dance and other music put you at ease? Why does certain music make you happy…or sad…or afraid…or angry?! All of these questions will be answered as this session explains how our bodies experience the elements of music.
Saturday, October 19 Who’s Afraid of Opera? (Kids’ version) 2:00 p.m. You’d be astonished to know how similar County and Western music is to Opera! In fact, Opera has been around, telling the stories of our lives for over 400 years! With live and recorded musical examples, Dr. Dunstan and Ms. Krekow will help you learn what opera has to tell you about YOUR life!
Saturday, October 20 Who’s Afraid of Opera? 2:00 p.m. Not YOU! In fact, Opera has been around, telling the stories of our lives for over 400 years! With live and recorded musical examples, Dr. Dunstan and Ms. Krekow will help you learn what opera has to tell you about YOUR life!
Thursday, October 24 Journeys and Experiences of the Musical Mind: How Music Can Positively Transform Your Life Forever 7:00 p.m. Session 3: If music be the food of love play on…and on…and on…. This session will explore how to make music your most effective medicine and connect to the highest consciousness. Every day, modern neuroscience offers the latest scientific findings about the healing and regenerative powers of music. We will discover how engaged listening fuses all parts of our brains, builds new neural networks, and literally expands our brains! Music has the ability to treat, and potentially cure, a full range of ailments ranging from sadness and depression to learning disabilities and infirmities associated with aging. This session will help give you the necessary tools to make music the most effective medicine ever for body and soul.
Saturday, October 26 Mr. Mozart Comes to Call 2:00 p.m. EVERYBODY knows who Mozart is! Now find out more about his life and music. And get ready for………..
Sunday, October 27 Bastien and Bastienne by W. A. Mozart 2:00 Did you know Mozart wrote an opera when he was 12 years old?! Amazing! And did you know the Museum has an opera company in residence? Amazing! The American Center for Puccini Studies, led by Dr. Dunstan, will present this delightful, silly, funny, beautiful short opera in English for your giggling enjoyment. Did we mention the Sheep? Or the Wizard? ;-)
Saturday, November 2 NO PROGRAM Sunday, November 3 The Impressionists: Music and Art 2:00 p.m. The Impressionists are the most popular artists in the world. We all recognize Van Gogh and Monet. But did you know they inspired a generation of composers, as well? Come meet The Impressionists, led by Dr. Dunstan.
Thursday, November 7 Journeys and Experiences of the Musical Mind: How Music Can Positively Transform Your Life Forever 7:00 p.m. Session 4: Revealing the magic of how the mind processes words, symbols, and music. What happens when the best poetry is joined with the best music? Yet, why is it sometimes better to let the music speak for itself, and the poetry to remain as its own music? Why are we humans most naturally troubadours, constantly inventing our own song? This session will reveal the neurological basis for why we are so profoundly moved by words and music and why music makes words even more powerful.
Saturday, November 9 Mr. Beethoven Lives Upstairs 2:00 p.m. “Da-Da-Da-DUM! Nobody’s home.” You’d recognize that tune anywhere. Ludwig van Beethoven and his influence are EVERYWHERE. Imagine if he lived upstairs!
Sunday, November 10 How a Farmer Saved the World: the life and music of Giuseppe Verdi 2:00 p.m. That’s right. A Farmer. The world’s most popular and prolific opera composer was also a successful FARMER! One of our own kind! Isn’t it time you got to know him?
Thursday, November 14 Journeys and Experiences of the Musical Mind: How Music Can Positively Transform Your Life Forever 7:00 p.m. Session 5: The crazy, kaleidoscopic, captivating world of COLOR The ability for humans to hear subtle distinctions of tone color in sound (timbre) has been our greatest survival instinct. The sonic world of humans has witnessed an amazing development over the millennia to incorporate an unlimited palette of visual and tonal/musical color. In some respects, the history of the musical and visual arts can best be understood by a new appreciation of how to This session will explain how we listen to and perceive color in sound. You will hear and experience the world in a more engaged way.
Saturday, November 16 Native American Explorations Part I 2:00 p.m. Come explore our First Peoples heritage with Diane Nusbaum and a special guest.
Sunday, November 17 A Schubertiade 2:00 p.m. And just WHAT is a Schubertiade?! Imagine your talented group of friends all gathered together to sing songs, play musical instruments, share a poem, and of course, eat and drink. And your host is Franz Schubert, the great, gifted, and gregarious German composer of the early 19th Century. This afternoon will be dedicated to his beautiful music, performed by Dr. Dunstan and Company.
Thursday, November 21 Journeys and Experiences of the Musical Mind: How Music Can Positively Transform Your Life Forever 7:00 p.m. Final Session (6): Whither music? A brief history of the origins of music and why early humans learned to sing, dance, and create art. This session will be a sweeping survey of how music is perhaps our greatest survival tool and why it is absolutely necessary in our lives. We will discover how music is truly “the only international language” and our best hope for a peaceful future. This session will reveal why you treasure the music that most moves you and how this enables you to connect to the eternal. This is about the exquisite poetry of our existence.
Saturday, November 23 Native American Explorations Part II 2:00 p.m. Come explore our First Peoples heritage with Diane Nusbaum and a special guest.
Sunday, November 24 Songs of Gratitude and Praise: A Thanksgiving Program 2:00 p.m. Prepare your hearts and minds for a season of gratitude. Dr. Dunstan & Company offer a concert of songs reminding us how much we have to be thankful for.
Saturday, November 20 NO PROGRAM Sunday, December 1 Songs and Poetry of Advent 2:00 p.m. Dr. Dunstan & Company help get you ready for Christmas with a concert of songs of preparation, anticipation, and joy.
Saturday, December 7 NO PROGRAM / Lighted Christmas Parade in Downtown LeMars 6:00 p.m. Stop by the Museum for Hot Chocolate and Cider!
Sunday, December 8 Community Christmas Carol Sing-Along 2:00 p.m. EVERYBODY SING! Everyone LOOOOOOVES to sing Christmas carols, so come join us! What could be a better way to enjoy the holiday spirit? We’ll do all your favorites. Together. Just like we used to. What fun!
Saturday, December 14 Christmas Crafts of By-gone Days 2:00 p.m. Diane Nusbaum leads a crafting class to make old-fashioned Christmas ornaments.