New Mexico Symphony Orchestra Chorus: schedule and reviews, 1995–2011

Sadly, the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra (NMSO), founded in 1932, ceased operation in 2011. Happily, the choral arm, the NMSO Chorus, continues as an independent organization: see my New Mexico Symphonic Chorus page.

The page below summarizes my history with the NMSO Chorus.

I'm a current member of the baritone section of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra Chorus. (See the official NMSO homepage). This experience has been the high note of my musical life. In my opinion, Roger Melone is one of the finest choral directors on the planet, and working with him has been a grueling but supremely rewarding experience.

We have also been privileged to work under two remarkable musical directors. Guillermo Figueroa, our current maestro, was chosen after universal raves from audiences, the musicians, the critics, and the board of directors, serendipitously derailing a selection process that did not initially include him, and he has justified this confidence with a long series of brilliant performances, in many of which the chorus has been fortunate to perform. I also have fond memories of David Lockington, who started in 1995, the same year I joined. Both men excel not only at staging strong and beautiful musical performances, but also at the vital community outreach and education parts of the job.

• Performed in the 2010–2011 season:
  • July 16, 2011: We made our fourth appearance at the Bravo!-Vail (CO) Valley Music Festival to sing Orff's Carmina Burana with the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Giancarlo Guerrero.
  • Feb. 25–27, 2011: Haydn, Creation. [Review]
  • Dec. 17–19, 2010: Bach, Christmas Oratorio.
  • Oct. 15–16, 2010: Rachmaninoff, Vespers.
• Performed in the 2009–2010 season:
  • May 21: Lerner & Lowe pops at the Rio Grande Zoo bandshell.
  • Apr. 16–18: Borodin, Polovtsian Dances; Brahms, Schicksalslied; Mozart, Coronation Mass.
  • Feb. 26–28: Bernstein, Chichester Psalms. [Review] [Article: An underfunded jewel]
  • Jan. 29–31: Verdi, opera choruses from Nabucco, Aïda, Il Trovatore, and La Traviata.
  • Dec. 18–20: Handel, Messiah. [Review]
• Performed in the 2008–2009 season:
  • May 30: A Gershwin pops performance at the Rio Grande Zoo bandshell.
  • May 15–17: Orff, Carmina Burana.
  • Mar. 20–22: Beethoven, Missa Solemnis. [Review]
  • Oct. 10–12: Mendelssohn, Elijah. [Review]
• Performed in the 2007–2008 season:
  • Jul. 14: Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival: Orff, Carmina Burana with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Rossen Milanov.
  • Mar. 28–30: Brahms Requiem. I have now sung the Mozart Requiem in at least eight cycles, the Verdi Requiem once, and the Brahms once. Which is my favorite? I love them all! The Verdi is dramatic; the Mozart is simply one of the best pieces in the repertoire; the Fauré is intimate; but the Brahms is the most universal, as Brahms wrote it to include Jewish and agnostic friends. (I hope soon to sing the Berlioz Requiem; it shouldn't be too long, since Maestro Figueroa is a serious Berlioz fan.)
  • Feb. 29–Mar. 2: Debussy, Nocturnes: Sirenes; Ravel, Daphnis et Chloe: Suite No. 2.
  • Feb. 15–17: Brent Michael Davids, Pauwau Symphony.
  • Nov. 16–18: Sir William Walton, Belshazzar's Feast. [Review]
  • Sep. 12, 14–16: Beethoven, Symphony No. 9. [Review]
• Performed in the 2006–2007 season:
  • Jul. 14: Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival: Beethoven, Symphony No. 9 with the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Rossun Milanov.
  • May 11–12: Gordon Getty, Plump Jack. [Review]
  • Mar. 2–4: Rachmaninoff, The Bells, a choral symphony. [Review]
  • Feb. 2–4: Orff, Carmina Burana. [Review]
  • Sep. 29–Oct. 1: Berlioz, Te Deum. [Review]
• Performed in the 2005–2006 season:
  • Jul. 2: Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival: Mozart Requiem with the Rochester Philharmonic [Albuquerque Journal article], directed by Christopher Seaman. See also chorus member Dave Bregar's pages for photos and links to blog entries.
  • Apr. 21–22: World premiere of Miguel del Aguila's Time and Again Barelas, commissioned for Albuquerque's tricentennial. [Review]
  • Feb. 17–18: Verdi, Requiem. [Review]
  • Dec. 16–17: Handel, Messiah, conducted by Guillermo Figueroa. [Review]
  • Oct. 28–29: Stravinsky, Symphony of Psalms, conducted by Roger Melone. [Review]
  • Sep. 23–24: Music of Star Wars, conducted by Byron Herrington.
• Performed in the 2004–2005 season:
  • May 19: Ramirez, Missa Criolla [Review]
  • Apr. 8–9: Wagner opera choruses from Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, and Die Meistersinger [Review]
  • Mar. 4–5: Poulenc, Stabat Mater; Boito, Prologue to Mephistopheles [Review]
  • Nov. 20: Broadway Pops
  • Oct. 1–2: Mozart Requiem [Review]
  • Howard Shore, Lord of the Rings Symphony. This show sold every seat both nights. The crowd was the most attentive and enthusiastic I've ever seen at an NMSO concert.
• Performed in the 2003–2004 season:
  • May 26: Patriotic Pops: Randall Thompson, selections from his Americana including Testament of Fredom
  • Mar. 19–20: Hindemith, When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd [Review]
  • Dec. 20: Christmas Pops
  • Dec. 5 & 7: Saint–Saëns, Christmas Oratorio; Monteverdi Vespers [Review]
  • Oct. 9–10: Berlioz, Romeo and Juliet [Review]
• Performed in the 2002–2003 season:
  • May 2–3: Berlioz, Les Troyens (selections) [Review]
  • Mar. 21–22: Berlioz, Damnation of Faust [Review]
  • Dec. 13–14: Handel, Messiah [Review]
  • Dec. 7: Christmas Pops
  • Beethoven's Ninth, Sep. 20–21. [Review]
• Performed in the 2001–2002 season:
  • A chorus-only concert, May 19.
  • Beethoven, Choral Fantasy, May 3–4. I was chosen for the semi-chorus, one of four baritones singing the sections indicated as solos in the score. [Reviews]
  • Janacek, Glagolitic Mass—in the Glagolitic language (an ancestor of Bulgarian and Slavonic), February 22–23, 2002. [Review]
  • Christmas concert including only Twentieth Century Pieces, including Respighi's Laud to the Nativity, the Pinkham Christmas Cantata, and Franz Biebl's Ave Maria, among several others, December 7–9.
  • Mozart, Mass in C Minor, October 19–20. [Review]
• Performed in the 2000–2001 season:
  • May 27, 2001: Orff, Carmina Burana, at the Zoo Bandshell, Roger Melone conducting. See also Kree-kree!, or the hazards of live music.
  • Apr. 20–21, 2001: Fauré, Requiem, Paul Polivnick, guest conductor. [Review]
  • Apr. 6–7, 2001: Bach, Mass in B Minor, Roger Melone conducting. [Review]
  • Dec. 15–16, 2000: Prokofiev, Alexander Nevsky (in Russian). David Wiley, guest conductor. [Review]
  • Dec. 8–10, 2000: Handel, Messiah, absolutely every note; also Dec. 22–23, Spencer Theater, Ruidoso, NM. I was pleased to be chosen for the small chorus of 32 for this concert.
  • Oct. 13–14, 2000: Bernstein, Chichester Psalms; Verdi, Te Deum. Thomas Wilkins, guest conductor. [Review]
• Performed in the 1999–2000 season:
  • May 20, 2000: Patriotic Pops at the Zoo bandshell
  • April 14–15, 2000: Great opera choruses [Review]
  • Feb. 18–19, 2000: World premiere of Roy Shattenkirk's American Icons [Review]
  • Dec. 10–11, 1999: World premiere of Brent Michael David's Gathering of Nations
  • Beethoven's Missa Solemnis [Review]
• 1998–1999 season:
  • J. S. Bach's The Passion According to St. John, Mar. 20–21 [Review]
  • Verdi's Four Sacred Pieces, Jan. 15–16 [Review]
  • Handel's Messiah, Dec. 18–19–20
  • Poulenc's Gloria [Review]
• 1997–1998 season:
  • May 1998: Sir William Walton, Belshazzar's Feast. [Review] For more information about this piece, see ClassicalNet's Sir William Walton page.
  • April 1998: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. [Review]
  • January 1998: Mozart's Requiem. [Review]
  • December 1997: Handel's Messiah, the entire work in one concert, with nothing omitted. [Review]
  • October 1997: Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem. [Review]
• In previous years (since the 1995–96 season): Mahler's Second Symphony, Verdi's Requiem, Orff's Carmina Burana, and J. S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio, among others.

Last updated: 2012/10/20 00:42:56
URL: http://www.nmt.edu/~shipman/music/nmso.html