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With just six full-time and three part-time employees working year-round in an old house near Simpson College, it might seem like all is calm in the opera world. But in three months, around 200 people will descend upon the campus in Indianola, preparing for 16 opera performances in four weeks.

Des Moines Metro Opera’s summer festival alone keeps the staff busy, as they prepare down to the tiniest details to ensure that the crew stays on a tight schedule. Yet they also are gearing up for the organization’s first-ever Mascheranda Gala Ball on March 1, working on a commissioned piece, and are in the midst of the group’s OPERA Iowa touring season.

These projects are signs of DMMO’s evolution since Simpson professor Robert Larsen and the late Douglas Duncan founded the company in 1973. Now in its 36th year, DMMO has grown to a budget of nearly $2 million from $22,000 when it first started and become a respected company among opera aficionados. Money magazine named it one of the top 20 summer opera companies in the world.

In terms of budget size, DMMO has become one of the larger opera companies in the United States, and yet one of the smallest in terms of theater size. But this stage, which brings the actors face-to-face with their audience, has attracted top-level performers and generated new stars with its intimate feel and renowned training program.

“There are a few other companies that are small, that work on a college campus and perform in repertoire, but they don’t do grand opera to the same level that we do,” said Thomas Smith, who became executive director of DMMO a year and a half ago. “It’s a very unique model that we have, and I think it’s crafted its own niche in terms of its experience.”

Because the DMMO season is limited to 16 performances in a 488-seat theater, only about 25 percent of its revenues come from ticket sales, less than most theater companies. Performances have been 95 to 105 percent sold out (some patrons return tickets that are then resold) in the past few years, drawing audiences from about 35 states and a handful of countries. But the company primarily relies on contributions to make up the majority of its budget, most of which goes into putting on the three productions in its summer festival.

This year’s lineup from June 20 to July 13 will feature Giuseppe Verdi’s “A Masked Ball,” Marc Blitzstein’s “Regina” and Gaetano Donizetti’s “The Elixir of Love.”

A season is chosen based on a marriage between the budget and Larsen’s artistic desires. Last year the company went all out, putting on three major productions from scratch in honor of its 35th anniversary. Typically, it will rent out sets or costumes or use props it already owns to try to save money.

To generate excitement for this year’s season, DMMO is scrapping its usual auction fund-raisers and instead putting on a traditional masquerade ball, which ties in with its production of “A Masked Ball” this summer. The event will take place in the Scottish Rite Consistory in downtown Des Moines and feature a performance by Lauren Flanigan, who was part of DMMO’s apprentice program and is now a world-renowned soprano. DMMO Development and Community Relations Director Robert Montana hopes to raise $75,000 to $100,000, with tickets selling for $200 apiece.

This is only one of several small changes Smith has instituted since he replaced Jerilee Mace, who had led the company for 30 years. Though he has spent most of his time just getting a handle on how the organization works, he has made some small changes, he said, and after the coming festival, will hire a development associate to assist Montana in raising more money. His main goal is to keep the organization on its growth path, increasing funding and improving artistic quality each year, and maybe bringing a few more productions to Des Moines.

“I think we’ve been able to keep raising people’s expectations in terms of what they are going to see,” Smith said, “but going back to why we exist, I think that has changed very little.” Larsen, the artistic director, still conducts and directs every production. “That has become extremely rare,” Smith said.

DMMO has made a reputation for itself in other areas, too, especially in its James Collier Apprentice Artist Program. Last year, nearly 1,000 people across the country applied for 40 spots. Those chosen, typically young performers who are at the start of their careers, will go through six and a half weeks of intensive training under the direction of 12 professional coaches, conductors and stage directors during the summer festival. They often perform in the chorus or in small roles in the festival’s main productions, but also have a chance to showcase their work in smaller performances.

More than 1,000 people have gone through the program since its inception, many of whom “are singing in the major opera stages around the world,” said McB Smith, DMMO’s marketing and public relations director.

For its three main performances, DMMO also hires 20 to 30 U.S. professionals, chosen from auditions in a few major cities around the nation in the fall. Beyond the competitive compensation, Thomas Smith said, singers are attracted to the festival because of the small-town experience and artistic freedom many have under Larsen’s direction. This year, the three principal actors in “A Masked Ball” will perform their roles for the first time, which could lend to more creativity with the parts, he said.

For its summer festival, DMMO also brings in an orchestra of up to 60 people, as well as backstage crews, ushers and more, which Smith said makes it the one of the largest employers in Indianola for a few weeks.

Beyond its main season, DMMO also is focused on a $150,000 piece it commissioned for OPERA Iowa in conjunction with the Iowa State Historical Society. “Dream Fulfilled: The Saga of George Washington Carver,” composed by Iowan Michael Patterson, will have its world premiere at the State Historical Building in February 2009. The performance, featuring key events that shaped Carver’s life, is expected to showcase DMMO’s talent to the Des Moines community and across the state. However, it is a small project in comparison to commissioning a full-length opera, which takes about $1 million, Smith said. DMMO commissioned one full-length opera, “The Tempest” by Lee Hoiby, in the mid-1980s.

OPERA Iowa, now in its 22nd year, also has taken off, selling out for at least a decade. It is a 13-week regional arts education tour, in which about seven company members teach 350 classroom workshops and present 90 school and evening opera performances from January through April. It focuses on Iowa schools, but also travels to surrounding states such as Missouri and Minnesota, and at one time, went to Iowa’s sister state in Japan.

“It’s critical for us, because they’re out in the community right now sort of under our banner when we’re dark,” Smith said, “so that’s helpful for us, keeping us front-of-mind for people.”

DMMO also has expanded its OPERAtion Opera program, now working with 31 human and social services agencies to offer children from lower-income familes a chance to see the final dress rehearsal of an opera.

“We’re in a good place,” Smith said. “We’re big enough to be a serious professional company; still small enough that everybody knows everybody’s name.”

Correction: The Business Record story “Indianola’s Diva” in the February 25 edition incorrectly stated the date of the Des Moines Metro Opera’s Mascheranda Gala Ball. The correct date is Saturday, March 1.