I write to you with inspiration and with hope for a 2022 that deeply connects youth to the power of music. Through this connection, an invisible, life-giving wellspring forms, nourishing students' pursuits of the heart, imagination, and mind.
During the month of December, violin students in the Festival's Strings in Our Schools program performed in quiet events for their families, and students in our Dream Big Private Lesson Program performed in public holiday concerts with the Capital High band, choir, and orchestra ensembles.
We have so much to look forward to this spring. Our middle and high school students are already preparing for festivals, music assessments, and concerts, while our elementary violin and guitar students are going deeper into repertoire, technique, and artistry.
It's such a gift to be able to support this work. It keeps us connected to something real. We're glad you're a part of it.
For kids and music,
Leanne DeVane
Director of Education & Outreach
Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival
Music in Our Schools Highlights
Photo by Joseph Hohlfeld
During the month of November, the Festival presented twenty-five chamber music concerts in seven Santa Fe and Pecos schools. The concerts featured Haydn's String Quartet in E-flat Major (known as The Joke Quartet) and Borodin's String Quartet No. 2 in D Major. Teachers prepared their students for the concerts in advance, using age-appropriate and standards-based music curriculum that familiarized them with the works' composers, melodies, meter, formal structure, styles, and instruments.
Thank you to the artists, the curriculum writers, and, especially, the school educators who made this possible.
Photo by Jeong Young Hong
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The Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival Celebrates More than 25 Years of Music Education Enjoy an eight-minute walk through the history of our youth programs!
Strings in Our Schools Highlights
Andres Pérez, fourth grade violin student at Tesuque Elementary, with Hilary Schacht, instructor
Diego Garcia Madrid and Callie Bezwerchyj, fourth grade violin students at Sweeney Elementary
Dream Big Private Lesson Program
2021 Holiday Concert Highlights
A performance by the Capital High Jaguar Band, under the direction of Ricardo Hernandez, on December 13, 2021
Zion March by Brian Beck: Click Here Deck the Halls, conducted by Dream Big Instructor Cal Haines, featuring the Capital High Percussion Ensemble*: Click Here A Christmas Tale (Beware the Krampus) by Randall Standridge*: Click Here
*Audio files courtesy of Santa Fe Public Schools Music Education Department
A performance by the Capital High Jaguar Choir, under the direction of Alicia Dickinson, on December 2, 2021
Dream Big Accomplishments
This past fall, five students in our Dream Big Private Lesson Program won admission to Santa Fe Youth Symphony Association ensembles and other honors performing groups!
• Hadleigh Lamay-Mason, a 6th grade violin student at Ortiz Middle School, auditioned successfully for the Santa Fe Youth Symphony Association's Prelude String Orchestra.
• Leslie Gutierrez, a 10th grade percussion student at Capital High School, auditioned successfully for Honor Band as first-chair percussionist.
• Evelyn Funes, a 12th grade viola student at Capital High School, auditioned successfully for the Santa Fe Youth Symphony Association's Youth Symphony Orchestra.
• Aseneth Ultreras, a 12th grade violin student at Capital High School, auditioned successfully for the Santa Fe Youth Symphony Association's Mariachi Estrella.
• Luca Buckley, a 12th grade cello student at Capital High School, auditioned successfully for the New Mexico Music Educators Association's All-State Concert Orchestra.
We’re so proud of these talented, hard-working musicians and offer them our warmest congratulations!
Dream Big Private Lesson Program Capital High School Flute Students with Instructor Vicki Schaevitz
Natalia Montaño, 9th grade
Wilgen Bernal, 9th grade
Nallely Chavez Gutierrez, 11th grade Francisco Rivera Lopez, 12th grade
Thank You to the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival's Sponsors and Partners
Zion March by Brian Beck: 
