Conductor, farmer, TSU alumnus

Iowa hog farmer returns to his alma mater — now leading an orchestra

From Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. — When Robert McConnell walks onto the Baldwin Hall stage on Saturday, March 28, he’ll be returning to a place that shaped him more than half a century ago.

McConnell, music director and CEO of the Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra (SEISO), arrived at what was then Northeast Missouri State University in the fall of 1973 — a freshman from Washington, Iowa, who discovered in Kirksville what music could really mean.

He played in the marching band, the jazz ensembles, and experienced his first orchestra. He has built on those experiences at home and abroad, and will be returning to the Truman State University (TSU) stage for the first time since graduating in 1977. He’ll be wielding the baton when SEISO and TSU present “A Grand Pops Evening: The Rhapsody Concert.” The free, family friendly event begins at 7 p.m. March 28.

TRUMAN STATE CONNECTIONS

“The training I received at that school was genuinely exceptional,” McConnell said. “The faculty were tremendously dedicated, and that dedication was contagious — it made you want to be better.

“I’ve watched a remarkable number of musicians come through that program over the decades and go on to do extraordinary things. The director of Army bands. Orchestra directors. Band directors leading really successful programs across the country. That didn’t happen by accident.”

The personal connections run closer than that. SEISO Concertmaster Charlene King is a Truman alumna who attended during roughly the same years as McConnell. The orchestra’s principal bassoon, Jason Edwards, also graduated from Truman State. And for this concert, Truman State Orchestra Program Director Paul Grobey will join the violin section as a guest performer — a fitting symbol of the collaboration that has developed between the two institutions over the years.

The orchestra’s principal horn, Patricia Mickey, is on the TSU faculty, and the university has supplied a steady stream of guest soloists who have appeared with SEISO over the seasons — among them is clarinet professor Jesse Krebs.

“It’s really a natural partnership,” McConnell said. “We’re both regional institutions that take the music seriously and believe it belongs to everyone.”

AN ORCHESTRA BUILT ON INCLUSION

Now in his 35th year leading SEISO — and celebrating a landmark 75th anniversary season that includes 22 concerts across the region — McConnell has built a regional orchestra that has garnered a reputation for turning out high-energy concerts that leave audiences wanting more.

What makes that achievement all the more remarkable is who is doing the playing, he said. SEISO is composed primarily of dedicated amateurs who pursued careers outside of music but have maintained their skills at the highest level. Others include music directors, conductors, and ensemble directors who choose to spend their performing time in SEISO’s ranks.

McConnell is that rare figure: a working hog farmer who also serves as the music director of a regional symphony orchestra. He has spent decades balancing both lives as principal oboe with the Quad Cities Symphony and a conductor, and sees no contradiction between them.

“We provide the chance to collaborate on top-tier orchestral literature for people who might not otherwise have that experience,” McConnell said. “That matters enormously in our largely rural area.”

The orchestra maintains a core ensemble of 45 to 50 musicians, expanding as repertoire demands. They come from Burlington, Mount Pleasant, Ottumwa, Oskaloosa, Iowa City and Cedar Rapids in Iowa; Macomb and Quincy in Illinois; Kirksville, Missouri; and many small towns in between.

The ensemble’s mission to bring orchestral music to rural and underserved communities across the region is central to everything it does, McConnell noted. The group performs across multiple Southeast Iowa communities and serves one of the broadest regional footprints of any orchestra its size in the Midwest. Recent anniversary-season concerts have sold out, ending with shouts of “bravo” and standing ovations.

In addition to its orchestral programming, SEISO hosts yearly performances featuring regional adult singers, and two years ago, established a children’s choir, both of which offer singers access to the highest level of orchestral literature, McConnell said.

On March 14 and 15, adult singers from Iowa and Missouri joined the SEISO for the Beethoven’s Ninth concerts in Burlington and Ottumwa. Among the four soloists was mezzo-soprano Jill Phillips from the Truman State faculty.

A GRAND POPS EVENING: THE RHAPSODY CONCERT

Phillips also will be featured March 28, performing “I Dreamed a Dream” from “Les Miserables,” with the SEISO.

Pianist Elizabeth Crecca, another TSU faculty member, will blaze through George Gershwin’s groundbreaking “Rhapsody in Blue.”

Other showstoppers include an orchestral arrangement of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”; John Williams’ title theme from “Star Wars”; Ravel’s “Bolero,”; and Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by Franz Liszt.

This free family program is designed to be as inviting as it is impressive, McConnell said. He will offer brief context before each piece begins, to make the evening accessible to first-time concertgoers and seasoned listeners alike.

“This is music people already love,” he said. “For many of them, hearing it performed live by a full orchestra for the first time is genuinely transformative. ‘Star Wars’ never fails — it just blows people away. And there’s always a great moment of recognition when I tell the audience about the Hungarian Rhapsody’s connection to ‘Tom and Jerry.’ ”

IF YOU GO

What: “A Grand Pops Evening: The Rhapsody Concert”

When: 7 p.m. Saturday, March 28, 2026

Where: Baldwin Auditorium, Truman State University, Kirksville, Mo.

Admission: Free; reserve your seat by emailing LYCEUMSERIES@truman.edu

Program: George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” featuring pianist Elizabeth Crecca from TSU faculty; Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by Franz Liszt; instrumental version of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”; Maurice Ravel’s “Bolero”; “Star Wars” theme by John Williams; “I Dreamed a Dream” from “Les Miserables,” featuring Jill Phillips, mezzo-soprano from TSU faculty

Information and season details: Follow SEISO on Facebook, Instagram, or SEISO.us

Pictures:
all by Amanita Photo Co.