Venue: Keller Hall

UNM alumnus Joshua Rupley performs Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words, Copland’s Piano Sonata, and Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit.

Joshua Rupley lives his calling as an artist and educator: With characteristic creativity and enthusiasm, he plunges into all kinds of activities dealing with the creation and communication of music. He is passionate about inspiring musicians with the beauty of their own repertoire, driving them to expand their own horizons and interpret music more beautifully than ever before.

In 2021, he began teaching at the Leopold Mozart College of Music of the University of Augsburg, where he has the privilege of assisting young pianists and singers in developing their artistic personality and interpretive skills. Beyond his university teaching, he coaches singers and pianists privately and is a guest clinician for piano solo and German art song repertoire at various higher education institutions and music academies.

Tickets on sale starting August 16 at unmtickets.com. This concert is included with the Faculty Concert Series pass. $15 general admission, $10 seniors and UNM employees, $5 students (18+ must show student ID)

Photo credit Janina Riem

The Faculty Spotlight Concert Series showcases UNM Music faculty, alumni and guests, who enjoy robust careers on national and international stages; this concert presents an opportunity for you to hear them in concert and meet them afterwards. Join us for a post-show reception to speak with our faculty and enjoy light refreshments.

This concert will feature a world premiere by Czech-American composer Dr. Beth Ratay. Dr. Ratay is a versatile musician who is able to craft music using a wide variety of styles and techniques. From music possessed of a quiet, understated grace, to music based on mathematical concepts, to emotive and hilarious opera, Ratay’s music is engaging, charming and beautiful. She received her Doctor of Musical Arts in World Music Composition from the University of California, Santa Cruz and has had works performed around the world by ensembles such as Earplay, West Edge Opera, Coalescence Percussion Duo, the Phoenix Symphony Chorus, Ninth Planet, The Hartford Opera Theater, and the Oregon Bach Festival Composer’s Ensemble. Her studies on the relationship of text to music in the work of Leoš Janáček and symmetric or layered musical structures in the music of Harrison Birtwistle strongly inform her own compositions. Ratay is a vigorous supporter of new music as the President of the Boston New Music Initiative.

Tickets on sale starting August 16 at unmtickets.com. This concert is included with the Faculty Concert Series pass.

Trombone faculty Dr. Christopher Buckholz in concert, with Dr. Natasha Stojanovska on piano.

Chris Buckholz is a virtuoso crossover artist in both classical music and jazz. He is Associate Professor of Trombone at the University of New Mexico, where he also directs UNM Jazz I. Buckholz has three solo CDs to his credit: the 2015 classical/jazz double album Versatility, A la Albéniz from 2012 and the 2006 jazz release Muse. He is the first trombonist to have released both a classical and a jazz solo CD. From 1997 to 2005, Buckholz was the lead trombonist for the Army Jazz Ambassadors in Washington, D.C. and performed with the Pittsburgh, National and Baltimore Symphonies, and the Boston and Cincinnati Pops. He has performed alongside many jazz greats, including Carl Fontana, Bobby Shew, Bill Watrous, Conrad Herwig, Matt Wilson, Phil Woods, Kevin Mahogany, Wayne Bergeron, Dick Oatts, Kenny Werner, Slide Hampton, Christian McBride, Jim Pugh, Louie Bellson, Jeff Coffin, and Greg Gisbert. Buckholz is a co-founder of the Southwest Trombone Conference. He has given masterclasses at universities and conferences throughout North and South America. He holds degrees from Wake Forest University, Yale University and the University of Michigan. His teachers include John Swallow, H. Dennis Smith, Arnold Jacobs, Curtis Fuller, Conrad Herwig, Steve Davis and Steve Turré.

Tickets on sale starting August 16 at unmtickets.com. This concert is included with the Faculty Concert Series pass. ($15 general admission, $10 seniors and UNM employees, $5 students (18 must show student ID)

UNM Wind Symphony chamber ensembles perform Konzertmusik für Blasorchester (Paul Hindemith), Debo Gritarlo al Viento (world premiere by Nur Slim, featuring soprano Olga Perez Flora and tenor Jamie Flora), and Concerto pour les instruments á vent et le piano (Frank Martin).

Composer Nur Slim received her degree in composition at the Escuela Superior de Música del INBAL, and her Masters in Music Education at UNAM. Her works have been premiered in Instrumenta Festival 2016; XXII Festival Eduardo Mata; Eurojazz Festival 2018, with Sattva Quartet; at the XXXIX Foro Internacional de Música Nueva Manuel Enríquez, premiered by CEPROMUSIC; and The Library of Congress in Washington D.C., by Dal Niente Ensemble. El Mito de Coronis premiered in 2020 at Indiana University’s Auer Hall with the Amity Trio. She has presented her work in Indiana, New Mexico, Nevada, Illinois and Denver in the USA and in Loja, Ecuador.

Tickets on sale starting August 16 at unmtickets.com. This concert is included with the Student Concert Series pass.