UNM Distinguished Alum and Grammy Award Winner Col. Jim Keene conducts The UNM Symphony Orchestra
The University of New Mexico Symphony Orchestra presented a special performance on Thursday, March 28, at 7:30 p.m., at Popejoy Hall on the UNM campus. The UNM Symphony orchestra features the top music students in New Mexico and is a part of the University’s celebrated Music and Fine Arts Department.
The orchestra was be led by UNM distinguished alumni U.S. Army Col. Jim Keene, who will be retiring from the U.S. Army after 30 years of service, most recently leading the Grammy Award winning U.S. Army Field Band.
The concert featured UNM horn professor and virtuoso Michael Walker in a performance of composer Dana Wilson’s exciting Concerto for Horn. The orchestra also featured the music of Indian-American composer Reena Esmail’s, titled “Black Iris” after Georgia O’Keefe’s famous painting and dedicated to representing and amplifying the voices of women highlighted by the #metoo movement.
The concert began with the “Carmen Suite (number 1)” featuring themes from the world’s most famous opera by George Bizet. The concert ended in a performance of one of the greatest movie scores ever written, “The Magnificent Seven,” which serves as a perfect soundtrack to the American West.
The UNM Symphony Orchestra program has been in existence for more than 50 years. It constitutes one of the most important cultural student organizations on the campus of The University of New Mexico and is open to all students regardless of academic major.
UNM Theatre and Dance Faculty Member Sara Curran Ice accepted to 2026 OISTAT India Research Trip
The Department of Theatre and Dance would like to congratulate costume designer and UNM Faculty member Sara Curran Ice on her acceptance to the 2026 OISTAT India Research Trip. Ice is one of the eight participants chosen, four of whom are from the United States, to experience the textiles and practices of South India as it relates to the rich and dynamic performing arts in the region.
Art MFA Alum Kerry Cottle Builds a Career Blending Material and Meaning
Kerry Cottle, a 2022 graduate of the University of New Mexico’s Art MFA program, is emerging as a compelling voice in contemporary painting, with exhibitions across California and a studio practice grounded in material experimentation, abstraction, and sustainability....
We’re excited to share that Myrriah Gómez, Associate Professor at the Honors College at UNM, has written an insightful article titled “Art and Activism at Highlands University” in Santa Fe Magazine, El Palacio.