Santa Fe Pro Musica is that rare musical organization: strongly committed to its community, while achieving national recognition. Founded in 1980 by Tom O’Connor (Music Director and Conductor) and Carol Redman (Education and Associate Artistic Director) Santa Fe Pro Musica has consistently expanded its repertoire, its audience, and its reputation. Entering its 30th season, Pro Musica embodies the founders' vision: a performing arts and educational music nonprofit organization that has grown into a major musical presence in Northern New Mexico and far beyond.
In its early years, Santa Fe Pro Musica’s repertoire consisted primarily of duos, trios, and quartets, and the organization specialized in performing Baroque music on period instruments. Pro Musica now presents a varied repertoire of music from the last four centuries, including works for chamber orchestra, chamber ensemble, and large-scale oratorios. The annual Baroque Christmas concerts—always sold out—are so popular that visitors from all over the world include them in their Santa Fe holiday plans. In addition to concerts by its Chamber Orchestra and Baroque Ensemble, Santa Fe Pro Musica presents world-renowned solo artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Lang Lang and Ian Bostridge, while also offering audiences the opportunity to hear up-and-coming young performers like this season’s Laura Lutzke and Conrad Tao.
Santa Fe Pro Musica was highly honored at the end of 2007, when its recording of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde/The Song of the Earth, in collaboration with the Smithsonian Chamber Players, was nominated for a 2008 GRAMMY® Award in the classical music category of Best Small Ensemble Performance.
Our Mission: Santa Fe Pro Musica brings together outstanding musicians to inspire and educate audiences of all ages through the performance of great music.
PASA REVIEW
Santa Fe Pro Musica Classical Weekend Lensic Performing Arts Center
January 2008
Serving Schubert,
superbly
St. Francis Auditorium was the place to be on Jan. 26, 2008, when tenor Ian Bostridge and pianist Julius Drake guided listeners through the varied creative landscapes of a fine all-Schubert recital. It definitely wasn't for those who like their lieder sweet, meek, and tastefully embalmed: this was Schubert in overdrive as well as in excelsis.
Some of the 20 works were familiar fare from the composer's 700 strong song canon. Others are more usually heard on specialist's recitals. Few of the poetic texts have stood time's test; as a scholar I know drily remarked, most of these bards do not stand among the great names of German Romanticism.
But of course a poem is only part of a song, and Schubert's settings gave the verses heart, strong legs, and sometimes wings. The artists' gemlike musicianship, the final part of the equation, was a constant beacon. So was Bostridge's German diction, which to my ear was clear, strong, and superbly inflected.
Bostridge approached each song in a highly dramatic, almost idiosyncratic manner. He contorted his finely cut features and moved his tall, lanky body and long arms around in ways that would bring thunder down on the head of any student singer who tried it. But expression, attitude, and movement were geared to the emotional implications and subtexts, not only in each song but sometimes in a single word. It was artfully extreme.
Bostridge walked around, rocked from foot to foot, leaned back on the piano, and even held the piano edge and leaned away from it, incidentally leaving quite a nice crop of thumbprints. Once he held his water glass and sang reflectively into it, as if talking to us over the kitchen table. He also often sang leaning over, presumably to help focus his supple voice and counteract the altitude and dryness problems one could occasionally hear.
The melodramatic approach reminded me of his and Drake's sensitive yet spooky DVD of Schubert's Die Winterreise, staged by iconoclastic director David Alden. Yet in context, and given the huge range of mirroring and supporting colors Drake effortlessly drew from the piano, the approach was persuasive. (Kudos to page turner Sergio Rodriguez, who handled an often thankless job with aplomb.) But I wish we could have heard it all in a smaller room, sitting grouped around the piano as in a Liederabend of Schubert's day. Even the intimate St. Francis was too big for best effect.
There were some bitter audience complaints that, because the lights were kept low at the musicians' request, it was impossible to read the English translations and so follow the songs. True, it did. Yet by keeping us in the dark, Bostndge and Drake paid us the strong compliment of presenting their work at the level they thought it should be, not at a level we might find convenient.
In fact, Bostndge is anything but a deliberately ingratiating artist. Unlike musicians who turn concerts into American Idol-like popularity contests, he didn't want us to love him, or even necessarily like him. He wanted us to hear him and Drake, and experience the focused journey they'd mapped out. They sought our cooperation before our approval, and those who gave both found new worlds opening.
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Santa Fe Pro Musica Recording
Nominated for Grammy Award
Santa Fe, NM – Santa Fe Pro Musica is thrilled to announce that its recording of Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde/The Song of the Earth has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the classical category of Best Small Ensemble Performance. Nominations for the 50th Annual Grammy Awards were just announced; and the awards will be presented on February 10, 2008.
The Dorian/Sono Luminus recording, released in 2006, is a collaboration between Santa Fe Pro Musica, which specializes in the performance of works for chamber orchestra and chamber ensembles, and the Smithsonian Chamber Players, dedicated to exploring the worlds of the master instruments from the collection of the Smithsonian Institution. This performance of Mahler’s masterwork is based on the chamber orchestra transcription by Arnold Schonberg (completed by Rainer Riehn), and is conducted by Kenneth Slowik, artistic director of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society, and features soloists John Elwes, tenor, and Russell Braun, baritone.
Thomas O’Connor, general director of Santa Fe Pro Musica, expressed his delight over the nomination. “Coming as a total surprise in the middle of our twenty-sixth season, this nomination is a wonderful validation of the success of Santa Fe Pro Musica, the Smithsonian Chamber Players, and the importance of the chamber orchestra repertoire and performance. The nomination is a great honor, and we are very grateful.”
BOARD OF TRUSTEES David Cost, President Ellen Andes |
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Thomas O’Connor Biography
Thomas O’Connor is the Co-Founder, Music Director and Conductor of Santa Fe Pro Musica. Mr. O’Connor is also a highly regarded oboist who has performed extensively on modern and historical oboes. He has performed with all of the major classical music organizations in New Mexico including the Santa Fe Opera, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Music from Angel Fire and the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra. He frequently performs outside of New Mexico with festivals and orchestras including the International Festival at the Domaine Forget (Canada), Oregon Bach Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Oregon Festival of American Music, Philharmonia Baroque ˙Orchestra (San Francisco), San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival (California), Maryland Handel Festival, American Bach Soloists (San Francisco), the Bach Ensemble, Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra, Dallas Chamber Orchestra, and Boston Baroque. He was formerly the Artistic Director of the Ernest Bloch Music Festival at Newport (Oregon) and also served on the faculty of Texas Tech University. He has recordings with Sony, Telarc and Dorian including a GRAMMY® nominated disc of the chamber version of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde for Dorian Records. Mr. O’Connor is a graduate of the University of New Mexico and has pursued graduate studies at the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri at Kansas City and at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Musicale, Montreux, Switzerland.
 Daniel Binelli – Bandoneón – soloist with the orchestras of Philadelphia, Atlanta, Virginia, Sydney (Australia), Zurich, Montreal, Ottawa, St. Petersburg (Russia) – composer, arranger and master of the bandoneón – foremost exponent of the music of Piazzolla – Music Director of Tango Metropolis featured in PBS Documentary “Tango, the Spirit of Argentina” and in a BBC documentary about the life of Piazzolla – written and arranged music for solo instruments, chamber music, orchestra, dance and film music. |
 Danny Bond– Bassoon – principal bassoon, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century (Amsterdam), Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (San Francisco) – former faculty Royal Conservatory in The Hague – recorded the sonatas of Corrette, Boismortier and Devienne as well as concertos of Vivaldi and Mozart with the Academy of Ancient Music under Christopher Hogwood. |
 Karen Clarke – Violin – Concertmaster Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra (Leonard Bernstein, conductor), Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Baroque Orchestra – currently concertmaster Music City Baroque in Nashville – member Rogeri Trio, performing throughout the US, residency at Yale University – Professor Emeritus Florida State University, currently faculty Vanderbilt University. |
 Bruce Dunlap – Guitar – award winning performer, recording artist, concert promoter – director of the non-profit GIG Performance Space in Santa Fe – draws on jazz, classical and ethnic traditions to create what Jazziz Magazine calls “stirring, intellectually satisfying… grace and emotional import of fine poetry”. |
 Dave Grusin – Composer, arranger and pianist – written more than 100 film and television scores – seven Academy Award nominations – Academy Award “Best Original Score” for The Milagro Beanfield War (1988) – four Golden Globe nominations – seven Grammy Awards – grew up in Littleton, Colorado, the son of musicians, graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder – splits his time between his ranch in Montana and his house in Santa Fe. |
 Sally Guenther – Cello – solo cellist in the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra (Norway), Bit 20 Ensemble for Contemporary Music (Norway) – former member of the Syracuse Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra – retired to New Mexico in 2004 to begin career as chamber musician and pedagogue – student of Janos Starker (Bloomington, IN) and Harvey Shapiro (the Juilliard School) – teaches at the New Mexico School for the Arts. |
 Chad Hoopes – Violin – 16 year old wunderkind – solo performances with the orchestras and symphonies in Cleveland, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and others – appearances on CBS Early Show, NBC, NPR, ABC, and PBS’s From the Top – soloist in the Emmy Award-winning 2007 television commercial for the Cleveland Indians Major League Baseball team – currently studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music and plays a 1713 Stradivari violin, courtesy of Jonathan Moulds. |
 Polly Ferman – Piano – leading interpreter of the music of the Americas – soloist with the symphonies of San Francisco, Tokyo, Philippines, Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, and others – recitalist New York, Tokyo, London, Munich, Buenos Aires, others – collaborations, recordings and tours with Daniel Binelli and many tango groups – Founder and Artistic Director of Pan American Musical Art Research, Inc – Producer and Director of Latin American Cultural Week in New York City. |
 Cecile Licad – Piano – born in Manila, Philippines, studied at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music – awards include Leventritt Competition Gold Medal, Grand Prix du Disque Frederic Chopin – soloist with the orchestras of Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, others – festival appearances at Tanglewood, Marlboro, Mostly Mozart, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival – collaborations with Guarneri and Takás String Quartets, Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. |
 Kathryn Mueller – Soprano – solo and chamber artist – solo performances with Santa Fe Pro Musica, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Handel and Haydn Society (Boston), Seraphic Fire (Miami), New Trinity Baroque (Atlanta), Arizona Opera, Tucson Chamber Artists, Tucson Symphony - M. M. Vocal Performance, University of Arizona; B. A. Music with Honors, Brown University – when she’s not singing, she helps run the family winery in Elgin AZ. |
 Thomas O’Connor – Oboe – Music Director and Conductor Santa Fe Pro Musica – appearances with Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Le Festival International du Domaine Forget (Canada), Oregon Bach Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Oregon Festival of American Music, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (San Francisco), American Bach Soloists, Music from Angel Fire, Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra, Santa Fe Opera, Boston Baroque – 2008 Grammy nominee. |
 Liesl Odenweller – Soprano – awards include Liederkranz Prize, International Bellini Prize, the Italian “Il Virtuoso “ Prize – much acclaim for her performances as Violetta in La Traviata and as Queen of the Night, Gilda, Lucia, Konstanze, and Adina– acclaimed for her interpretations of Vivaldi, Rossini, Debussy, Strauss and Mozart – performances at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, and in London, Venice, Milan, Rome – currently a resident of Italy. |
 Susan Patrick – Harpsichord – Albuquerque Baroque Players, New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Desert Chorale, staff harpsichordist National Flute Association 2007 Convention – emerita faculty University of New Mexico – Bachelor’s degree Tulane University (Newcomb College), Master’s and Doctorate University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. |
 Rachel Podger – Baroque violin – guest director and leader, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Arte dei Suonatori (Poland), Musica Angelica (USA) and Santa Fe Pro Musica – leader of The English Concert, Gabrieli Consort – founder The Palladian Ensemble, Florilegium – performer and soloist with New London Consort, London Baroque, The Academy of Ancient Music – professor at Guildhall School of Music, Royal Welsh College of Music, Royal Danish Academy, Royal Academy of Music/London, and teaches at the Bremen Hochschule –founder Mozart Music Fund. |
 Stephen Redfield – Violin – Concertmaster Santa Fe Pro Musica – performs with Victoria Bach Festival, Oregon Bach Festival, San Luis Obispo Festival, other festivals and orchestras in Canada, Mexico, Asia, Europe – won the Coleman and the Monterey Chamber Music Competitions, awarded Quartet Fellowships at Aspen and Chautauqua Festival – currently faculty University of Southern Mississippi and Chair of the Music Department, New Mexico School for the Arts. |
 Carol Redman – Flute – Associate Music Director, Principal Flute, Santa Fe Pro Musica – performances with Smithsonian Chamber Music Society, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, festivals in California, Colorado, Oregon, Texas, Canada, Maryland, Germany, Japan – former member New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, Santa Fe Opera – B. M. magna cum laude University of New Mexico – 2008 Grammy nominee. |
 Gail Robertson – Viola – founding member Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra (Boston) – member Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, Wolf Trap Chamber Players, Pacific Symphony, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Kirov Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet – Principal Viola Mantovani Orchestra nationwide tours – first recipient of Austrian Government Ministry of Education Scholarship. |
 Szymanowski String Quartet – founded in 1995 in Warsaw Poland – festival and concert performances throughout Europe, the United States, Australia, Asia, and South America – awards include “Premio Vittorio Gui” (Florence Italy), “In Memoriam Schostakowitsch” (Germany), Osaka International Chamber Music Competition, Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition – Medal of Honor by the Polish government – New Generation Artists for BBC Radio 3 in London – concerts at Carnegie Hall (New York), Wigmore Hall (London), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Musikverein (Vienna), Konzerthaus (Berlin), Louvre (Paris), Konzerthaus (Stockholm), others. |
 Conrad Tao – Piano – played his first songs on the piano at 18 months of age – violin and piano lessons at 3 – first public piano recital at 4 – concerto debut at 8 – age 10 featured on PBS From the Top – concerto performances with Philadelphia Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and others – solo recitals throughout the US, Mexico City, Paris, Switzerland – winner Juilliard Pre-College Gina Bachauer Piano Competition, Prokofiev Concerto Competition – currently studying piano at the Juilliard’s Pre-College Division – 2008 Davidson Fellow Laureate. |
 Per Tengstrand – Piano – prizes in the Long-Thibaud Competition, Geneva Competition, Cleveland Competition, Musician Award by the Swedish Arts Grants Committee – awarded Royal Medal Litteris et Artibus by King Carl XVI of Sweden for outstanding service to the arts– the subject of the highly acclaimed Swedish documentary “Solisten” – studied at the Paris Conservatory (Premier Prix and Prix Spécial du Jury), Geneva Conservatory (Prix de Virtuosité) – performances with orchestras in France, Switzerland, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, throughout Sweden and the US – recitals in Amsterdam, Zurich, Paris, Nice, Geneva, Bordeaux, Bergen, Tokyo, Montpellier Festival, Poland’s Chopin Festival. |