On April 22nd, KUNM Music Director invited this semester’s members of the UNM Honky Tonk Ensemble, an ensemble that teaches students how to play in a band and that emphasizes the style of classic country music from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, to come into KUNM’s Studio A to do a studio session of songs they’ve performed over the course of the semester. Students and community members in the Ensemble performed their songs, and then did an interview, afterward, together with ensemble founder and co-facilitator, UNM Music faculty member Dr. Kristina Jacobsen. Here, they discussed their experiences learning to more deeply appreciate this genre of working-class verbal art through the performance of it, describing their experiences learning to sing, and play, in a “country” style throughout the course of the semester.” This show will be featured in hour-long broadcast on KUNM’s “Ear to the Ground” on Saturday 5/11 from 7-8 pm, and will be streamable through on their two-week archive after it airs, as well as on the KUNM Studio Sessions page. This semester’s ensemble includes: Seirra McDowell-Nardine, Nathan Lesiak, Aubrie Powell, Eric Schaller, and co-facilitator Alex McMahon. The Ensemble is open to UNM students, staff, and Albuquerque musicians, and begins again in August 2019. Please contact Kristina Jacobsen (kmj23@unm.edu) or Paula Corbin-Swalin (pcswalin@unm.edu) for more information.
NM Organ Instructor to make Carnegie Hall Conducting début
Dr. Maxine Thevenot, who teaches organ in the UNM Department of Music will be making her Carnegie Hall conducting début on Sunday, June 28, 2026, in a concert that brings together choral and orchestral musicians from across America, including members of local...
UNM to Host “Organ Plus” Concert in Partnership with American Guild of Organists
The University of New Mexico Department of Music will partner with the American Guild of Organists, Albuquerque Chapter, to present Organ Plus, a special concert event at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 23, 2026, in Keller Hall at the UNM Center for the Arts. The...
A major new operatic work by Peter Gilbert has made its international debut
A major new operatic work by University of New Mexico Department of Music Professor Peter Gilbert has made its international debut at the renowned Schwetzingen Festspiele. Malina, composed by Gilbert with his wife Karola Obermüller (a former UNM faculty member),...


