The Santa Fe Symphony’s Music Mentor program benefits students participating in school bands, orchestras, and choruses, as well as students in guitar and keyboard programs. Local professional musicians commit to spending several hours a week for up to 25 weeks during the school year to mentor students during their respective schools’ music rehearsal periods.

• Our mentors work either one-on-one or with small groups to give in-depth musical instruction to those students who need just that “bit of extra work” that might prevent them from dropping out of their school’s music ensemble. They volunteer in nine Santa Fe Public Schools, instructing in brass, percussion, violin, viola, cello, voice, guitar, and piano.
• Through this program, local students are given the opportunity to have musical instruction—at no cost to the student—from some of Santa Fe’s most accomplished musicians.
• Among the local musical luminaries who happily donate their time and talent is guitarist Pat Malone (pictured above). Pat inherited his first guitar at the age of nine, when his uncle was injured in a farm accident and handed off his beloved Stella Harmony guitar to his nephew. This marked the birth of Pat’s successful music career, from its beginnings in a southwest suburb of Chicago to Austin and then to Santa Fe. A music teacher for over 40 years, Pat completed master classes in Chicago and has conducted many of his own workshops. He is also a studio musician and an arranger and producer of recorded music, including on three of his own CDs. His newest, “Temporary Conclusion,” reverberates with music from his days in Austin. On “Rush Street,” he plays straight-ahead jazz, while “Spiraling Ecstasy” offers a unique fusion of jazz and “mind-driven sensuality,” as Malone describes it. Pat performs at popular local restaurants, many of them strong supporters of The Santa Fe Symphony. He has performed with an impressive list of musicians, including Steely Dan; pianist Bobby Doyle of Blood, Sweat and Tears; and Pete Cristlieb—who played saxophone in Doc Severinsen’s orchestra.

Will you consider supporting The Santa Fe Symphony’s community and education programs today? A donation of any size can help us make these programs available to aspiring young orchestral and choral musicians in more communities across New Mexico. Your gift will also support our expansive music education programs—reaching deeper into the community and fostering the extraordinary artistic talent of our future musicians.

You can earmark your contribution for a specific community education program, or help support all of our community programs by becoming a Friend of Music Education.