Daniel Kleinknecht thought there was something missing in Eastern Iowa, so he went out and did something about it.

In 1998, the Coralville resident and music teacher at Mount Mercy College founded the Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre. As executive director and conductor of group, Kleinknecht oversees four productions a year, as well as various other special events.

“I’m very pleased,” he said of the opera’s progress. “We’ve started a young artist series, and we’ve gotten three National Endowment for the Arts grants. This year, we got a $50,000 challenge grant to start an endowment fund, and in two days we raised $50,000 to match it.”

Pounding the pavement for money is a big part of Kleinknecht’s job.

“It keeps me pretty busy,” he said. “Working with the opera company, writing grants, there are lots of problems to get an opera company to function.

“You have to be really persistent,” he said. “But this community has always come through for everything that we’ve asked for.”

His success conducting the opera theater may lead to bigger things. Kleinknecht is a finalist for conductor of the Cedar Rapids Symphony, which will be announced later this winter.

“When the vacancy appeared, I applied for it,” he said. “It’s a great, great position with wonderful players.”

— Jon Klinkowitz

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