SIOUX CENTER—The Northwest Iowa Symphony Orchestra has provided musical excellence to N’West Iowa for 40 years.
The 90-member symphony consists of paid professionals, students and community musicians from N’West Iowa and areas of Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota.
Until the end of its 2025 season, NISO is its own 501©(3) nonprofit organization.
Starting in the 2026 season, Dordt University in Sioux Center will take ownership of this ensemble.
NISO’s last performance of the 2025 season will be 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 15, and will feature a performance of Brahms’ Requiem with the Sioux County Oratorio Chorus and the Dordt University Concert Choir. Ryan Smit, Dordt’s director of choral activities, will be a guest conductor for the performance.
“NISO is a wonderful addition to our community,” said Leah Zuidema, vice president of academic affairs at Dordt. “We often hear from incoming faculty and staff as well as donors about how impressive it is that Sioux Center has a community symphony orchestra. We also hear from musicians about how much they value NISO as a space for artistic collaboration, a platform to perform challenging and inspiring repertoire, and a vital cultural resource for Northwest Iowa and beyond.”
Like many organizations, NISO faced financial strain during the COVID-19 pandemic and struggled to recover. This caused the NISO Board of Directors to look for avenues to keep the ensemble financially solvent.
“Our community is very blessed to have so many great opportunities for activities and arts,” said Onsby Rose, principal conductor for NISO. “All those things require community support in the form of donations from businesses and individuals.”
Although the total number of donors remained stable, NISO saw a decrease in the amount each donor contributed to the orchestra.
“NISO has been an important and deep part of our community for decades, so when we began to look at next season, it came to a head,” Rose said. “If we didn’t see an influx of income, we might not have enough money to have a season in 2026.”
NISO has always had a strong partnership with Dordt. NISO uses Dordt’s B.J. Haan Auditorium as a performance venue and borrows instruments and equipment owned by the Dordt Music Department fpr free. About 30 Dordt music students are members of the ensemble. Dordt instrumentalists receiving music scholarships must play in NISO to fulfill their scholarship requirements.
“Dordt’s commitment to the ensemble is longstanding, and we are thankful that this partnership can expand and strengthen, ensuring NISO’s good work will continue,” says NISO Board of Directors in a communication made to NISO musicians.
With Dordt’s ownership, fundraising for the ensemble will be handled by paid Dordt staff rather than a volunteer board of directors who must fit fundraising efforts around their other responsibilities.
“To those that just attend the concerts, you probably won’t notice much difference. It’s just that the administrative operation of the orchestra will be different than it has been,” Rose said.
About 20 ensemble members, the principal players for each section, are professionals NISO pays to be in the ensemble. These musicians are a key factor in making NISO what Rose calls a “teaching ensemble.” The rest of the ensemble consists of semiprofessional community members and advanced high school or college students.
“I honestly don’t know of another orchestra in the country that is made up the way NISO is made up. It’s a very unique thing, having professionals, semiprofessionals and student members all in one orchestra, making great music together,” Rose said.
In addition to musicians from Sioux Center, Orange City, Hull and Rock Valley, there are musicians who travel from Sioux City, Storm Lake, Sioux Falls, SD, Vermillion, SD, and Omaha, NE, to Dordt for NISO rehearsals.
“There is a good balance of musicians in the orchestra from our community and from Dordt University, and Dordt is pleased to support this important ensemble and the value that it adds to our community,” Zuidema said. “We are eager to host concerts in the coming year; meanwhile, we hope concertgoers enjoy Brahms’ Requiem on April 15.”