The Des Moines Metro Opera has been awarded a generous gift from the Lauridsen Family Foundation.

According to a press release, the gift is for a whopping $1 million in support of the Company’s Words & Music at the Carnegie Capital Campaign. The campaign has been set up to support the “restoration and expansion of DMMO’s headquarters—the historic Carnegie Library in Indianola, Iowa—to better support the Company’s performances and its education and community engagement efforts.”

“This generous support from our most loyal donors is a great boost to our efforts. Their philanthropy in support of DMMO has launched our campaign in the most positive way and encouraged others to support the campaign as well,” Michael Egel, General and Artistic Director of Des Moines Metro Opera, said. “We currently have raised over $3 million of the $3.5 million goal. We will be forever grateful to them. As we prepare to launch our ambitious 45th Summer Festival Season, the success of this campaign thus far puts tremendous wind in our sails.”

The company is slated to showcase productions of “Turandot” “A Little Night Music,” “Billy Budd” and “Maria de Buenos Aires” as part of its summer season.