Community Calendar

Polyphony’s International Women’s Day program, celebrating the power, resilience, and strength of women, will feature the New Mexico premiere of Canadian composer Sarah Quartel’s She Sang the Stars. Listeners will also enjoy works by Mari Esabel Valverde, J. Reese Norris, Ethan Sperry, B. E. Boykin, Jim Papoulis, and Lady Gaga. Nathan Salazar, pianist, and Maxine Thévenot, conductor. Information: Sunday, March 8, 2026, 3pm. Cathedral of St. John, 318 Silver Ave., Albuquerque, NM, 87102. Tickets: $25 (Adults), FREE (Full-time students with I.D.). Available at www.polyphonynm.com.

After years of anticipation, a truly unmissable event arrives in cinemas worldwide on March 21 as the electrifying Lise Davidsen tackles one of the ultimate roles for dramatic soprano: the Irish princess Isolde in Wagner’s transcendent meditation on love and death. Heroic tenor Michael Spyres stars opposite Davidsen as the love-drunk Tristan.

The momentous occasion also marks the advent of a new, Met-debut staging by Yuval Sharon—hailed by The New York Times as “the most visionary opera director of his generation” and the first American to direct an opera at the famed Wagner festival in Bayreuth—as well as Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s first time leading Tristan und Isolde at the Met. Mezzosoprano Ekaterina Gubanova reprises her portrayal of Brangäne, alongside bass-baritone Tomasz Konieczny, who sings Kurwenal after celebrated Met appearances in Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer and Ring cycle. Bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green makes an important role debut as King Marke.

Local support for the Met: Live in HD series is provided by The Edward Hastings and Gino Barcone Trust.

Quarteto Nuevo merges western classical, eastern European folk, Latin and jazz with an organic feel that packs a wallop! Their diverse programs can be tailored to fit anywhere, from an intimate chamber music venue to a large outdoor festival. The ensemble’s razor-sharp precision is enhanced by jazzy interludes, lightly rumbling percussion motifs and mesmerizing rhythms. They effectively meld the music of ancient worlds and faraway places with a contemporary groove that enchants audiences of all ages!

The fourth concert of the Presidential Chamber Music and World Series, offered as a Free - Pay As You Wish concert to the central NM community.

On May 30, the Metropolitan Opera’s 2025–26 Live in HD season comes to a close with a live transmission of American composer Gabriela Lena Frank’s first opera, a magical-realist portrait of Mexico’s painterly power couple Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, with libretto by Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Nilo Cruz. Fashioned as a reversal of the Orpheus and Euridice myth, the story depicts Frida, sung by leading mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, leaving the underworld on the Day of the Dead and reuniting with Diego, portrayed by baritone Carlos Álvarez.

The famously feuding pair briefly relive their tumultuous love, embracing both the passion and the pain before bidding the land of the living a final farewell. Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the Met-premiere staging of Frank’s opera, a “confident, richly imagined score” (The New Yorker) that “bursts with color and fresh individuality” (Los Angeles Times). The vibrant new production, taking enthusiastic inspiration from Frida and Diego’s paintings, is directed and choreographed by Deborah Colker.

Local support for the Met: Live in HD series is provided by The Edward Hastings and Gino Barcone Trust.

A Sanctuary of Sound

Last performed in 2016, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale is thrilled to continue the tradition of presenting Sergei Rachmaninoff’s profoundly beautiful and deeply spiritual All-Night Vigil (popularly known as Vespers). This cornerstone of choral music consists of fifteen movements of unaccompanied voices creating a cathedral of sound, resonating with both the ancient and the innovative. Composed in less than two weeks in 1915 against the backdrop of war, Rachmaninoff’s masterpiece marries traditional Orthodox chants with his distinctive harmonic language, creating a work of great emotional depth. From the grand opening of “Come, Let Us Worship” to the famous low B-flat descent in “Now Lettest Thou,” the Vespers showcases the full expressive range of the human voice. The Desert Chorale will expand to 32 top-tier professional vocalists to tackle this Herculean work. Whether you’re hearing the Vespers for the first time or revisiting a beloved favorite, this program promises to be an unforgettable journey through what many consider to be the pinnacle of Russian choral music.

Celebrate the Hope and Magic of the Holiday Season

Mark your calendars in 2026 to celebrate the warmth, light, and beauty of the holiday season during the Desert Chorale’s 2026 Winter Festival. Our twenty-four professional artists and guest collaborative pianist return to the Land of Enchantment from across the nation for concerts, caroling, and more. Celebrate this festive time of year with beloved carols you know and love alongside new musical treasures to add to your collection of favorite seasonal tunes.