Join us for a preview of the 2025-26 Waterloo Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra season and the Gallagher Bluedorn season during their 25th anniversary year! Fellow Rotarian Jordan Bancroft will pinch hit for Steve Carignan who is recovering from knee surgery.
Decades of dreams and three years of construction became a reality on April 6, 2000, with the dedication of the new Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center at the University of Northern Iowa. Enabled by the generosity of Cedar Valley residents Ed and Cathy Gallagher and Carl and Peggy Bluedorn, as well as support from the university, the state and over 1,400 donors across Iowa, this was the first major center to open in Iowa in twenty years. The $23 million, 100,000 square foot complex features three state-of-the-art concert halls, a soaring glass-walled lobby and dozens of teaching and rehearsal spaces. All three halls have been designed with superb acoustics and intimate sightlines. The Catherine Cassidy Gallagher Great Hall also has cutting-edge theatre technology, enabling the center to present artists spanning from chamber ensembles to the biggest Broadway shows. Hosting more than 300 performances each year, the GBPAC showcases the world's finest artists, ensembles of the UNI School of Music, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony and many other regional events.
wcfsymphony was founded in the fall of 1929 and our first concert was held at East High School, Thursday, February 6, 1930, with Mr. Bennett as conductor, sharing the honor with Mr. Pronk. Today the orchestra performs at the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center and at venues throughout the Cedar Valley under the direction of Jason Weinberger.
