Cherokee Symphony opens season with Pops Concert Nov. 8

The Cherokee Symphony will present its Fall concert with the theme, “American Composers and Friends,” on Sunday, Nov. 8 at 4 p.m. in the upper level of the Cherokee Community Center. This will be the 71st season of the Cherokee Symphony. Ted Hallberg, an educator and cellist from Le Mars, will be entering his 14th season as the conductor of the symphony.

This concert celebrates American music, with selections including Duke Ellington’s “Caravan,” John Philip Sousa’s “The Glory of the Yankee Navy,” music from Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story,” Richard Rodgers’ “Victory at Sea,” and Morton Gould’s “American Salute.” The program also features “Journeys” by Iowa composer Linda Robbins Coleman, the first Iowa woman to have her music performed by a major symphony orchestra. These selections and more are performed by talented musicians calling Northwest Iowa home.

This concert will also feature Ensemble Zusammen, a chamber music ensemble of cellists from the University of South Dakota. Under the leadership of Dr. Sonja Kraus, the ensemble performs an eclectic repertoire spanning the Baroque era to contemporary music. In November 2025, the group received Second Prize in the Chamber Music category of The American Prize. They will perform David Popper's Waltzer Suite and the first two movements of Heitor Villa-Lobos’s “Bachianas Brasileiras No. 1.”

Tickets for the performance are $15 at the door, and students are allowed to watch free of charge. The Cherokee Symphony is funded by ticket sales and generous donations from community members like you!