Carrizozo Music in the Parks was very pleased to find a grant from Otero Electric in our mailbox today!   It goes to the April 18 harp concert at the Carrizozo School System, and to bus fuel so a couple  classes from Hondo can attend. 

Thanks Otero Electric!!!

Anne Eisfeller, concert harp and Valerie Potter, flute will play duets on Friday, April 19 at 7pm at Trinity Methodist Church  . 

April 18, Thursday, Anne will play at the Carrizozo School Old Gym. 

Both concerts are free and open to the public. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUJAg3clylY   some of Jack's music

http://vimeo.com/22260045   short video about his workshop and guitar building

From 54, turn West between Roy's and the Mt. Hardware--12th Street.  Make the first right onto D Ave.  And one block down you'll see the Woman's Club (corner of D Ave and 11th) and two blocks for church and the school.  Park between 11th and 10th and walk to dinner and the concert.  For the school concert, enter the main campus right at D and 10th a and go in the first West door...right by the pavilion.  Go straight on back to find the Old Gym.  

Carrizozo Music in the Parks Classical Guitar Concerts:  Thursday, November 15, 1pm and 7pm.

On Thursday, November 15, at 7 PM   Jack Sanders, classical guitar, will present an evening of music at the Trinity United Methodist Church on 10th at D Ave. in Carrizozo.  This Carrizozo Music in the Parks and Piatigorsky Foundation  concert is free and will be followed by a reception and opportunity to meet the performer.  

Members of the  Carrizozo Woman’s Club will host a pre-concert dinner at the historic WPA clubhouse on 11th and D. Avenue, just a short block from the Trinity United Methodist Church.    Green chili stew, Tony Roma Potato soup, salad, roll,  plus a beverage and dessert tray all comes for $8, and the proceeds go to the Woman’s Club scholarship fund.  Doors open at 5 with service until 6:30.  Take-out also available.  Park on D Avenue and walk to both venues.

Mr. Sanders will also perform at the Old Gym of the Carrizozo School Campus at 1 PM.  The concert is also free and the public is encouraged to attend.  For more information about Carrizozo Music in the Parks and these concerts, please check www.carrizozomusic.org or call Elaine Brannen at 575-648-2757.

For over 22 years, The Piatigorsky Foundation’s commitment to artistic excellence and public outreach has fascinated many avid concert goers, as well as curious first-timers. It is this combination of complimentary access, flamboyant performances, and human warmth that makes Piatigorsky Foundation concerts so appealing to diverse audiences. Last year, the Foundation presented a tour of 10 concerts in New Mexico reaching over 1,990 people in Lovington, Jal, Carrizozo, Albuquerque, and Hobbs. In an effort to serve more communities this season, for the very first time The
Foundation will present two tours in the state. The Fall tour will take place November 2012, beginning in Jal and concluding in Albuquerque; the second tour is planned for Spring 2013.

JACK SANDERS’ performances have included The Sitka, Kapalua, and Arrowhead Bach
Festivals. He has performed with the St. Petersburg, Colorado, and Angeles String Quartets. Recent
performances include Joaquin Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez with the Claremont Symphony, and
premiere performances of the Concerto for Resonator Guitar and Orchestra by Gabriel Bolaños with
the Mill Valley Philharmonic. This year, Sanders will tour Arizona and New Mexico on behalf of The
Piatigorsky Foundation.

His duo with violinist Clayton Haslop has appeared at two GFA Festivals, Merkin Hall in New York,
the Oregon Bach Festival and in concerts from Hawaii and Alaska to Maine. The Haslop/Sanders Duo
toured for the California Arts Council, and a 1988 tour of China included the Shanghai Conservatory,
where Mr. Sanders was the first U.S. guitarist to appear after the Cultural Revolution. The Duo has
recorded for Centaur and Townhall. Mr. Sanders recorded the Preludes of Ponce, Villa-Lobos and
Carlevaro, which Townhall Records released in 2000. Mr. Sanders, along with oboist Allan Vogel
and flutist Janice Tipton, has appeared at the International Music Festival of Costa Rica and the
Sedona Chamber Music Festival. He gave the first performances of Las Folios D’Espana, a concerto
by Louis Moyse and the U.S. premiere of Raymond Luedeke’s Elemental Dances with the Colorado
String Quartet. In 2005, he gave the premier performances of Music in Four Sharps for guitar and
string quartet by Ian Krouse.

An accomplished luthier, Sanders builds modern guitars, vihuelas, baroque guitars and 19th Century
instruments. Recently, he built Rene Lacôte (c. 1830) copies for the San Francisco Conservatory and
Yale University, and a baroque guitar after Stradivarius (1700) for the UCLA Baroque Ensemble. A
faculty member of Pomona College and Claremont Graduate University since 1980, he received his
degrees from California Institute of the Arts in 1980. http://www.piatigorskyfoundation.org/artist/sanders
http://www.sandersguitar.com/

Evan Drachman established The Piatigorsky Foundation in 1990 in honor of his grandfather Gregor Piatigorsky. Piatigorsky deeply believed in the healing and inspiration power of classical music. He once said, “Music makes life better. Music is a necessity. It is rich. It is imaginative. It is magnificent. And it is for everyone”. Through his sizzling artistry and charismatic personality, Piatigorsky thus enlivened his mission by performing for millions of people around the globe. The Piatigorsky Foundation is committed to carrying on Piatigorsky’s noble aspiration by evoking cultural curiosity through educational and accessible live performances.  For more information the Piatigorsky Foundation please contact   Kathleen Le Blanc at (212) 971-5309 or  http://piatigorskyfoundation.org/

 Music in the schools
Posted:   10/02/2012 08:16:38 PM MDT
  Children from Carrizozo and Hondo enjoyed a free concert on Monday as Lisa VanWinkle and Esequiel Meza returned for a second concert, courtesy of the sponsorship of Zia Natural Gas Co.



Erik LeDuc/Ruidoso News

On Sunday, September 30, at 7PM   Lisa Van Winkle and Esequiel Meza will present an evening of flute and piano music at the Trinity United Methodist Church on 10th at D Ave. in Carrizozo.  This Carrizozo Music in the Parks concert is free and will be followed by a reception and opportunity to meet the performers.  

Those wonderful cooks at the Carrizozo Woman’s Club will host a pre-concert dinner at the historic WPA clubhouse on 11th and D. Avenue, just a short block from the Trinity United Methodist Church.  A raspberry chipotle chicken dinner, plus a beverage and dessert tray all comes for $8.50, and the proceeds go to the Woman’s Club scholarship fund.  Doors open at 5 with service until 6:30.  Take-out also available.  Park on D Avenue and walk to both venues.

Thanks to the generosity of Zia Natural Gas Company, and their commitment  to helping enhance the cultural education of students in Lincoln County, this free concert will be repeated for the entire Carrizozo School System at 10 AM, Monday, October 1.  The concert will be held at the Old Gym on the Carrizozo School Campus and the public is invited to attend.  Enter by the West door nearest to 10th Street off the campus courtyard.   


Dr. Van Winkle has performed extensively at festivals and in concert nationally and around the world including the United Kingdom, Prague, Vienna, and Bogota, Colombia.   She is the assistant professor of flute and the coordinator of the music business program at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM.  Her professional orchestral experiences include the El Paso Symphony, the Las Cruces Symphony, the Juarez Symphony, and the El Paso Opera Company.  Dr. Van Winkle served as principal flutist of the Las Cruces Symphony from 1999 - 2009.  She was an invited performer for the William Bennett Summer Flute School in Farnham, United Kingdom (2005, 2006) and performed as a soloist at the National Flute Association's convention in Las Vegas in 2001.  Dr. Van Winkle's students are frequent winners of scholarships and competitions. The NMSU Flute Ensemble has performed at the National Flute Association's conventions in Albuquerque, NM (2007) and recently in Las Vegas, NV (2012). Dr. Van Winkle has had articles published in Pan : Journal of the British Flute Society and the NACWPI Journal. She has been a member of the chamber groups the Mirage Duo, the NMSU Faculty Woodwind Quintet and the Cielo Azul wind trio.  She completed the  master of music from NMSU (1996) and doctorate of music arts from the University of Arizona (2005). She enjoys a diverse career as an educator, recitalist, soloist and orchestral musician.


Zeke Meza holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts and a Master’s of Music in Piano Performance and Organ (secondary) from the University of Arizona, Tucson, and a Bachelor of Music from Sam Houston State University. From 1997-2000, Dr. Meza was a postdoctoral visiting artist scholar at Indiana University.  His areas  of specialization and training include fine arts administration, vocal/instrumental coaching, chamber music, piano literature and Spanish literature.  Zeke Meza’s teaching experience has spanned over twenty years, including private and classroom teaching with beginning students to professionals.   Dr. Meza, past Artist Professor of Music and Assistant Dean of Fine Arts at the University of Oklahoma and Visiting Professor of Music at the University of Michele di Montaigne School of Music in Talence, France, is an active recitalist and lecturer.  A partial list of performances includes recitals and lectures in London, Mexico City, and numerous cities in France, Nicaragua and the United States.  Zeke Meza, past winner of the Shreveport National Piano Competition, Southwestern Pianist Foundation National Concerto Competition and the Kingsville National Young Artist Competition, can be heard on the recording entitled, Americana: Solo Piano Music of the Americas, Claudio Records, LTD., UNITED KINGDOM.

Directions to Trinity United Methodist Church, the Carrizozo School Campus and the Carrizozo Woman’s Club are as follows:  from 54, turn West at the caboose, turn South at the stop sign (E Ave), then turn right onto 10th Street.  Go one short block to the church and school, and the Woman’s Club is a short block South.  

For more information, please check our website at www.carrizozomusic.org or call Elaine Brannen at 575-648-2757  

Music in the Parks steps it up
Erik LeDuc/Ruidoso News
Posted:   09/28/2012 11:52:40 AM MDT

Click photo to enlarge Carrizozo's Music in the Parks, known for bringing world-renowned and local musicians to the small town on the plains, will kick off another classical concert on Sunday, this time with a bit of extra help.

Elaine Brannen, chairwoman of the committee, said the group had just acquired its first business sponsor in Zia Natural Gas Company, allowing for an additional day of music, just for the youth.

The company, along with several others in the county, frequently donated money to the group, but this was the first time she had approached any business about sponsoring a concert directly, she said.

"(Aaron Dunn, business development manager) said (Zia Natural Gas) loved to sponsor communities, especially when it involved children," she said.

While the main concert is paid for by funds the group has collected over the months with fundraisers and donations, Zia would be sponsoring the entirety of the youth concert, she said.

"We went ahead and made sure (the committee) didn't have to worry about covering Monday's (concert)," Dunn said. "We support them every year. We spend more money on donations and sponsorships than we do on advertising every year, that's one of the things we have a big focus in - making sure the community is being well represented."

Zia sponsors many other events, such as the Mountain High Fly-In last weekend, within Lincoln County, he said "Everybody knows we're good about helping out."

Brannen said that she hopes to bring more companies

Advertisementon board in the future, as the sponsorship is tax-deductible and goes to a good cause. "I don't know if I have the energy to try and organize it," she said with a laugh. "I never thought about this before, we always sent (companies) a donation letter for our general fund. Otero Electric and Zia Gas have always been really generous, but I never thought about approaching them and actually sponsoring a specific concert."

On stage

Lisa Van Winkle, assistant professor of flute and coordinator of the music business program at the University of New Mexico, and Esequiel Meza, pianist and former teacher, will be in town at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Trinity Methodist Church, Brannen said.

"(Van Winkle) has been wanting to come up for quite a while and play a concert," she said. "I was really happy we could work her in. We're thrilled to have them play together. (Meza) is going to do a solo. It's going to be some really fun music, things that aren't normally heard."

The concert will be preceded by a dinner put on by the Carrizozo Women's Club at 5 p.m., which will feature a raspberry-chipotle chicken dinner, accompanied by scalloped potatoes, a broccoli-walnut salad and dessert, all for $8 per person, she said.

"They're such good cooks," she said. "People go to the Women's Club because they know they'll have a classy meal."

Other groups that frequently step up to feed visitors to the concerts include New Horizons Developmental Center, the Carrizozo Food Bank, Carrizozo Little League and possibly the Carrizozo Volunteer Fire Department's Youth Committee, which is "clamoring" to grill up a meal in the coming summer concert series, she said.

Each group uses the funds to enrich the community in some way, be it sports equipment for youth, improved amenities at the center or scholarships for local students, which would be the case for the Women's Club dinner, she added.

Attendance at the concerts varies with each venue, but typically ranges from about 100 to 200 people, she said.

The music goes on through all weather, featured outdoors when the sky is agreeable but moving indoors when rain or colder temperatures roll in.

The show had gone on even during the explosion of the Little Bear Fire, when Taxi Dancer played for free to a crowd of locals and displaced fire victims, she said. "We decided to keep it going, it was a healing thing."

Second performance

After the concert finishes Sunday night, performers will wake up bright and early to head to Carrizozo schools for a 10 a.m. concert in the old gym, where Carrizozo students will be joined by Hondo schools' third-, fourth- and fifth-grade classes, Brannen said,

Hondo students had been able to attend another concert after teachers Michelle Thurston, Yvonne Montes-Rich and Justine Ortiz went the extra mile to ensure their students would be able to attend, she added.

Thurston, third-grade teacher at Hondo schools, said that she, Montes-Rich and Ortiz had decided to put up their own money for gas to bus students over, as the expense was not in the schools' budget.

"I think it's an experience (students) don't always get exposed to, that classical music," she said. "They seem to very much enjoy it."

She added that the school never had any trouble filling a bus whenever the school got together to bring students over for a concert.

"I think it's really nice they care," Brannen said. "Hondo loves culture, they've come before. New Horizons always brings their residents over to the concerts as well."

Music of many genres pass through the town throughout the year, ranging from the sounds of the town's local son, Paul Piño and the Tone Daddies, bluegrass, a saxaphone quartet of retired 44th Army Band members, fiddler Russell Burris and world-class classical performers, usually brought through the Piatigorsky Foundation, which sponsors classical music performances in underserved communities.

"We're doing good, we're starting to get a reputation as a little center for music," Brannen chirped, enthused with the organizations' continued success and expansion. "I've got more (musicians) lined up than I can stage."