The Venues
The historic Lensic Performing Arts Center hosts the majority of The Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra & Chorus’ season concerts. From 20th-century triumphs like Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony to long-loved spectacles like our annual performances of Handel’s Messiah, experience it all right from downtown—steps away from the dining and shopping surrounding the Santa Fe Plaza.
On June 24, 1931, the Lensic Theater celebrated its grand opening and soon became a hub of Santa Fe social life. Movies proved to be the great tonic of the Depression years and the war years that followed. The marquee changed four times a week—three shows daily, with ticket prices from 25 cents to 75 cents. Through the 1950s the Lensic thrived. It was a place for a first kiss in the balcony, a grand silver screen in the midst of the Depression, and a vaudeville venue where the community could see the singers, actors, dancers, and comedians of the day. However, as the city grew, other entertainment options became available. The technical requirements of modern performance were surpassing those offered by the Lensic. In the 1990s, while managed by United Artists, the theater stopped hosting live events, and in 1999 it closed its doors altogether.
Thanks to a group of dedicated individuals–led by Nancy and Bill Zeckendorf–who saw the potential for the venue and the future benefit for Santa Fe, theater renovations began in 2000 with gifts from individuals, local businesses, the city, and foundations. In April 2001, the Lensic Theater once again opened its doors to the people of Santa Fe, now as the nonprofit Lensic Performing Arts Center. It’s a place where magic still happens, more than 200 nights a year.
The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi is a Roman Catholic cathedral in downtown Santa Fe and home to our free choral concerts: Choral Masterworks (October), Carols & Choruses (December), and We Remember (May).
The Cathedral is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. Built by Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy between 1869 and 1886 on the site of an older adobe church, La Parroquia (built in 1714–1717), the Cathedral was influenced by the French-born Archbishop Lamy. In dramatic contrast to the surrounding adobe structures, it was designed in the Romanesque Revival style and features characteristic round arches separated by Corinthian columns and truncated square towers.
The Cathedral of Saint Francis of Assisi was officially elevated to a basilica by Pope Benedict XVI on October 4, 2005, when it was named the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi.
When the New Mexico Museum of Art opened in 1917, it was the first building in the state dedicated to art. Its galleries, reception areas and the Saint Francis Auditorium were designed to promote the state’s rich culture to visitors and locals alike. The architects Isaac Hamilton and William Morris Rapp designed the building as an enlarged and modified version of the structure they made for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition in San Diego. The style, called Pueblo Revival, uses modern construction materials made to look like the historic adobe churches found throughout the state’s Pueblos. Throughout its long history, the museum has grown and redefined itself to adapt to changes in art and museum practices.
The Saint Francis Auditorium is a centerpiece of Santa Fe’s cultural and social life as a community space. A great venue for concerts and other performances, it hosts The Symphony’s chamber concerts and recitals.