2023—2024
Please join our family of classical music lovers and celebrate of our exciting new season and forty years of bringing great music to life® in Santa Fe—sharing forty years of stories from our artists, patrons, and community members. With our talented musicians at the heart of everything we do, our Orchestra is stronger and more vibrant than ever.
40th Anniversary Season
Celebrating 40 years of bringing great music to life®
The Symphony kicks off its 40th Season with Showcase of the Stars—a magnificent program showcasing the talent of its Symphony Orchestra and renowned pianist Anne-Marie McDermott performing Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and a spectacular performance of one of Mozart’s greatest compositions—his 40th Symphony. In October, one of the most highly anticipated concerts of the season is Holst’s Planets, presenting Himari Yoshimura, the youngest ever 15th International Competition for Young Violinists Grand Prize-Winner (Lublin 2021). At just 12 years of age, she joins her teacher and renowned soloist Ida Kavafian for Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins, plus a solo performance with Yoshimura for Henryk Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in F# Minor.
The Symphony’s 2023–2024 Season highlights our forty-year history in Santa Fe and what we look forward to for the next forty years. Each concert was put together with masterworks from past seasons, including grand orchestral and choral works that you cannot see anywhere else in Santa Fe. We’re also committed to offering fresh and exciting repertoire that patrons may not have heard before. The Symphony’s creative momentum for the 40th Season is strong, and we can’t wait to share it with our audience!
As The Symphony’s much anticipated 40th Anniversary Season approaches, I’m extremely honored to work with such a talented and passionate group of professional orchestral and choral musicians led by our Music Director, Guillermo Figueroa—now entering his 7th year with The Symphony and our Choral Director, Carmen Flórez-Mansi. The high level of confidence I have in both our dedicated, tenured administrative staff and our hands-on “working” Board of Directors cannot be overstated.
It is a thrill and a great honor to be the Music Director of the extraordinary Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, especially in this, our 40th season! Our deeply committed and talented musicians deliver magnificent performances of classic and innovative repertoire, putting the Orchestra on the cutting edge of the artistic world in our beloved city. Please join us in 2023–2024, a season for the ages!
The Symphony Chorus offers so much to the community and the artistic landscape of Santa Fe. We’re excited to continue working with the Symphony Orchestra on these fabulous pieces. We have a versatile and diverse group of choral musicians in Santa Fe who strive for excellence in choral music presentation. They beautifully perform repertoire from Messiah to Chichester Psalms—and everything in between.
In November, Handel’s Messiah starts the holiday season with its soaring arias, memorable choruses, and hallmark Baroque flourish the weekend before Thanksgiving. This season’s acclaimed performances bring a brilliant cast of rising stars from the Santa Fe Opera’s Apprentice Program: Caitlin Gotimer, Soprano; Kathleen Felty, Mezzo-Soprano; Philippe, Tenor; and Cory McGee, Bass-Baritone.
December 2023 is packed with concerts, starting with The Symphony’s annual holiday pops concert, Sounds of the Season, on December 10 at The Lensic. This annual concert of winter favorites is a Santa Fe tradition—featuring a side-by-side collaborative performance with the Santa Fe Youth Symphony Association and introducing the 2023 Senior Division Winner of The Symphony’s Inaugural Concerto Competition. On December 12, The Symphony presents its gift to the community with a FREE community concert, “Carols & Choruses,” at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. And on Christmas Eve, Grammy® Award-winning guitarist Jason Vieux takes center stage with The Symphony for Vivaldi’s epic Guitar Concerto and Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez, plus Corelli’s Christmas Concerto and Mozart’s “Linz” Symphony.
