• Play is the work of children! Children play together in a community with each other and with their grown-ups and teachers to explore and experience music through singing, rhythm, and movement activities.
• Early childhood music classes are inclusive and open to all! We welcome and celebrate all variations of families, learning modalities, and developmental abilities. Playful music-making in the community with other children of all abilities and developmental stages creates a safe and fun space for children and adults to explore and develop their musical selves.
• Due to classroom size, we recommend one adult per child participate in adult/child classes.

Register for Early Childhood

Spanish Bilingual Family Music (ages birth-3) 10am

An Adult/Child Class
Children ages birth-3 play together in community with their grown-ups and experience music through singing, rhythm, and movement activities.
Class instruction will be given in English and Spanish. All are welcome to join! Fluent Spanish is not required to take this class.
Saturdays: 10:00am – 10:45am
Teacher: Judy Castro

Family Music (ages 4-7) 10am

An Adult/Child Class
Children ages 4-7 play together in community with their grown-ups to explore and experience music through singing, rhythm, and movement activities.
Saturdays: 10:00am – 10:45am
Teacher: Mikel Sakamoto

Creative Musical Play (ages 4-10) 11am

Young musicians will engage in creative musical play and discover the captivating world of composition through musical exploration, experimentation, and expression! Participants will explore musical traditions, works, and composers from around the world, experiment with making sounds on a variety of instruments, and gain tools to express their creativity and share their ideas with others. Over the course of the session, young musicians learn the fundamentals of creating rhythmic and melodic patterns, skills for improvisation and group collaboration, musical storytelling, and how to create and use notation to express and communicate their ideas.

Saturdays: 11:00am – 11:45am
Teacher: Dr. Beth Ratay

Spanish Bilingual Family Music (ages birth-3) 11am

An Adult/Child Class
Children ages birth-3 play together in community with their grown-ups and experience music through singing, rhythm, and movement activities.
Class instruction will be given in English and Spanish. All are welcome to join! Fluent Spanish is not required to take this class.
Saturdays: 11:00am – 11:45am
Teacher: Judy Castro

UNM Children’s Chorus (K-6th grade)

UNM Children’s Chorus will return FALL 2025!

This choir for young singers, divided into age-appropriate groups, offers a joyful and engaging exploration of unison and simple part songs, rounds, musical movement, vocal discovery, singing games, and foundational music reading. Led by experts in choral music and music education for youth, this program combines high-level instruction with fun, interactive activities designed to inspire each child to discover their unique voice and foster a lifelong love of singing. Each semester culminates in an exciting public performance, showcasing the progress and enthusiasm of our young singers.
*Class price includes music and materials.

Teacher: Sharee Gariety & Erin Walker 

• Guitar students are expected to regularly practice at home and should have access to a guitar during the week.
• Cost of book, copies, and materials included in price

Guitar for Teens and Advanced Students (ages 13-17) 10am

This class is for beginners ages 13-17, as well as advanced students with 3 or more semesters of previous guitar experience of any age. Join us in this exciting guitar class where you’ll explore different musical genres while learning key techniques, strumming patterns, chord progressions, and more. Students will develop their skills as musicians and discover a variety of musical styles. Students are expected to practice and complete weekly assignments.
Cost of book, copies, and materials included in price.

Saturdays,  10:00am – 10:45am
Teacher: Mel Moreno

Beginning Guitar for Younger Students (ages 8-12) 11am

This class is designed for new beginners, ages 8-12. Join us in this exciting guitar class where you’ll explore different musical genres while learning key techniques, strumming patterns, chord progressions, and more. Students will develop their skills as musicians and discover a variety of musical styles. Students are expected to practice and complete weekly assignments.
Cost of book, copies, and materials included in price.

Saturdays, 11:00am-11:45am
Teacher: Mel Moreno

Continuing Guitar for Younger Students (ages 8-12) 12pm

This class is designed for new beginners and students with 1-2 semesters of previous guitar experience, ages 8-12. Join us in this exciting guitar class where you’ll explore different musical genres while learning key techniques, strumming patterns, chord progressions, and more. Students will develop their skills as musicians and discover a variety of musical styles. Students are expected to practice and complete weekly assignments.

Cost of book, copies, and materials included in price.

Saturdays,  12:00pm – 12:45pm
Teacher: Mel Moreno

• **The registration link for Opera Storytellers will work on April 1 at 10 am.**

  Register for Opera Storytellers

  Activate the Writer, Composer, Singer, Actor, Dancer, Designer, Performer…

  A collaboration between UNM Music Prep School and the Santa Fe Opera, Opera Storytellers is a week-long summer camp for children entering 3rd through 6th grades in the 2025-2026 school year.

  Opera Storytellers is a safe, supportive, and FUN space for students to take creative risks while collaborating to develop and showcase an original 10-minute opera. No previous music or performance experience required.

  Our experienced teaching artists are dedicated to making the creative process safe, engaging and transformative. We specialize in thoughtfully helping a diverse group of students each step out of their comfort zone to make new discoveries. The process is the point, with the resulting opera as the end reward.

  SANTA FE LOCATION
  June 2 to 6, 2025; 9 am to 3 pm
  Sombra Hall at the Santa Fe Opera

  ALBUQUERQUE LOCATION
  June 16 to 20, 2025; 9 am to 3 pm
  UNM Music Prep School at the UNM Center for the Arts (Popejoy Hall)

  Camp fee is $325 per child. Sibling discount is $25 per child.

  For more information and to request discounts and scholarships:

  for the Santa Fe camp: agarcia@santafeopera.org

  for the Albuquerque camp: musprep@unm.edu