Gaub with the Des Moines Symphony

Grinnell’s own Eugene Gaub, associate professor of music, was the forte piano soloist for the Des Moines Symphony's Beyond the Score performances of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.

The performance received critical praise from critic Michael Morain, who offered a "High Five for Beethoven's Fifth."

The Des Moines Symphony describes Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony as “a must-hear-it live bucket-list piece,” and says “composer, writer and critic E.T.A. Hoffmann wrote that the piece ‘… tears the listener irresistibly away into the wonderful spiritual realm of the infinite.’”

The Des Moines Symphony collaborated with the Chicago Symphony in this special presentation, which included a riveting multimedia first half with dramatic visuals on a giant screen, plus four actors depicting Beethoven, influential writers and other period characters. The second half of the concert included the dramatic tour de force that is the complete Fifth Symphony.