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.
UNM Faculty Take Music and Collaboration to Europe
UNM faculty members Aaron Jacobs and Tatiana Shustova traveled to the Netherlands and Finland for a week of international performances, presentations, and collaboration, including sessions at the European String Teachers Association conference in Helsinki and a chamber music performance with Finnish musicians.
Christian M. Newman Published a New Music History and Music Appreciation eBook
Christian M. Newman, a lifelong New Mexican composer, historian, and college course designer, has published the eBook, Music Essentials from the Western Classical Tradition: Middle Ages to the Present (First Edition) with Cognella Academic Publications, ©2027. Newman developed and authored this work as a music lecturer with the University of New Mexico’s department of music, and department of theatre & dance between 2016 and 2026.
UNM strings faculty sign historic agreement with Chinese Conservatory
University of New Mexico string faculty members Carmelo de los Santos, professor of violin and Christoph Wagner, assistant professor of cello and head of strings, traveled to China recently to formalize a landmark international partnership between the UNM College of Fine Arts and the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music (ZJCM), one of China’s leading institutions for higher music education.