Mission
NMPAS is the leading nonprofit performing arts organization in New Mexico that exclusively uses and develops New Mexican talent. We bring high quality performances to communities throughout the state, we train talented young people to become even better performers, and we do so with a sustainable model that both pays our artists a living wage and keeps our overhead costs low.
Vision
NMPAS seeks to build on its history of high quality performances by New Mexican artists. We envision an even stronger nonprofit organization with a renewed emphasis on developing and showcasing exceptional New Mexican talent, on broadening our reach throughout the state, and on developing a succession plan for the organization’s leadership. NMPAS has been and will continue to be a careful steward of its resources, both artistic and financial. We welcome philanthropic investment to help us bring more beauty, joy, and exceptional performances to our community.
Concerts
NMPAS currently presents a series of Chamber Concerts, The New Mexico Bach Society, Season Finale Opera, and Santa Fe Woodwind Immersion, an international flute, clarinet, oboe and performance skills masterclass with outstanding teachers and innovative workshops. NMPAS performs in the relaxed setting of Modern Elder Academy, located at the former Immaculate Heart of Mary Retreat Center in Santa Fe. The three major series concerts also include performances in Albuquerque. NMPAS guests regularly in Las Vegas, NM and many other cities, towns & rural areas of New Mexico.
Praise for NMPAS
“The concert was stunning. I cannot believe that this chorus and orchestra have not been working together for years. You both did an amazing job in organizing and preparing this. And Franz, the performance was so musical and well-paced- phrasing, nuances, and dynamics etc. … I thought all of the soloists were excellent. With a concert like this, I hope you will find many more backers- individuals and foundations so that you can expand on this. Let us know when you plan to have the next concert.” – Judith Auer, Voice teacher, Boulder, Colorado
Education
The NMPAS educational program addresses two areas of need: supplementation of pre-college music study, and professional training for advanced students and recent graduates of New Mexico universities. We do this through Santa Fe Woodwind Immersion, an annual educational program for ages fourteen and older that includes master classes and performance skills for flute, clarinet, oboe, voice, piano, and other instruments. Our professional training program gives aspiring artists their first opportunities to rehearse and perform alongside outstanding New Mexico professionals.
Many participants in the program have told us that the experience was pivotal for them and their students. Here are a few emails that NMPAS has received from participants in these programs:
Santa Fe Flute Immersion
“Your program is really fantastic…. The participants were really fortunate to be exposed to a wealth of opportunities! I was really impressed with all the classes that you offered and the caliber of your visiting teachers. Thanks again for all your kindness and for letting me personally participate in the immersion. ” – Daniel Sharp, Sales and Service Associate, Verne Q. Powell Flutes, Inc., an ongoing sponsor of Flute Immersion
“I wanted to write you to express my appreciation for the opportunity to attend the Santa Fe Flute Immersion, and a special thank you for the scholarship that I was given. Without the scholarship, I would not have been able to attend the program, which would have been a terrible shame because I learned so much throughout the week. Being able to meet and learn from great teachers, and play with great musicians was a very meaningful experience. Once again, thank you for extending this opportunity to me, I appreciate your generosity.” – Emily Ramsey, Junior, University of New Mexico Albuquerque
NMPAS Professional Training Program
“My name is Dr. Andre Garcia-Nuthmann. I have been performing with NMPAS for over five years. In that time New Mexico Highlands University and NMPAS have had the tremendous opportunity to work with [NMPAS Artistic Director] Maestro Franz Vote. These collaborations with Maestro and NMPAS have been a priceless and inspirational gift to my students. To be able to work with a world-renowned conductor is very rare in our isolated community. Maestro Vote is certainly one of the greatest conductors we have ever had the privilege to work with. He’s got such amazing knowledge and is so eager to share his immense musicianship. Maestro Vote is also very humble and patient. These qualities inspire his musicians to give their utmost in performance. This is what brings out creativity and excellence in my students.” – Dr. Andre Garcia-Nuthmann, Chair, Music Department, New Mexico Highlands University, Las Vegas, NM
“As a master’s degree candidate in oboe performance at The University of New Mexico, I have appreciated the chance to gain more professional experience performing with NMPAS. I have found it especially valuable because my main interests and career goals lie in early music, and NMPAS frequently performs the works of baroque masters, especially J. S. Bach. I will look forward to continuing to perform with them post-graduation, as I intend to remain in New Mexico.” – Corey Sweeney, University of New Mexico Albuquerque
“I just wanted to say thank you so much for your genuine praise regarding the opera performance in Bandelier [September 15, 2018]. It means so very much to me when someone recognizes my passion for music and lets me know I’ve succeeded in relaying that in performance. It means even more to me coming from someone like you, who has made an incredible career in music and continues to give of your talents every day. Our community cherishes you, and of course Linda, for your continuous efforts to raise up our local musicians and bring us to the forefront like we deserve. It has been a pleasure for me to work with this group, and I look forward to many more incredible concerts! Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart.” – Jennifer Perez, University of New Mexico Albuquerque graduate who auditioned for and began singing professionally as a trainee with NMPAS at the age of 20.
NMPAS Governing Board
Linda Marianiello, President, Professional Musician and Executive Director, NMPAS, Santa Fe, NM
Franz Vote, Vice President, Metropolitan Opera conductor emeritus and Artistic Director, NMPAS, Santa Fe, NM
Elizabeth Baker, Treasurer, Taos, NM
Esther Moses Bergh, Secretary, Professional Singer and Music Educator, Albuquerque, NM
Aaron Alter, Board Member at Large, IT Consultant and Composer, Carlsbad, CA
Steven Rudnick, Board Member at Large, Climate Scientist (Ret.), Santa Fe, NM
Praise for NMPAS
“The Trust Board Members that attended were uniformly laudatory of the concert! Comments included appreciation of the caliber of musicians assembled both in the chorus and the orchestra … I earlier said that I thought your performance would be definitive. It was and is. – and so full of musical sense and sensitivity. Thanks so much for all that you brought to this project!” – James Bonnell, Chair, the UNM John Donald Robb Musical Trust, Albuquerque, NM
NMPAS Advisory Board
NMPAS Advisory Board
James Bonnell, Madden Hosea & Associates (Ret.), Fundraising Consultant and Former Violist, New Mexico Symphony (Ret.), Albuquerque, NM
Gregory Gallagher, Associate Professor of Music – Voice, Eastern New Mexico University, Portales, NM
Patricia Henning, Astrophysicist, Socorro, NM
Elliot Stern, Amenergy, Inc., Santa Fe, NM
Rachel de W. Wixom, CEO, The Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts, Santa Fe, NM
NMPAS Emeritus Board Members
John F. Andrews, Shakespeare scholar, Santa Fe, NM
Bob Ansheles, Development Professional, Santa Fe, NM
John Berkenfield, ED, El Rancho de las Golondrinas, IBM Executive (Ret.), Santa Fe, NM
Chuck Case, Federal Judge and Lawyer (Ret.), Phoenix, AZ and Santa Fe, NM
Linda Childers, Founder, Fine Artist, Santa Fe, NM
Monika Cosson, Founder, Professional Singer, New Orleans, LA
Donna Elliot, CPA (Ret.), Santa Fe, NM
André García-Nuthmann, New Mexico Highlands University, Las Vegas, NM
Robert Glick, Fundraising Professional (Ret.), Santa Fe, NM
Scott Haley, CPA, Albuquerque, NM
Christopher Ihlefeld, Founder, Amateur Choral Singer and Thornburg Investment Manager, Santa Fe, NM
Brian Lee, CPA, Santa Fe, NM
Kayla Liechty, Collaborative Pianist and Faculty, Eastern New Mexico University, Portales, NM
Peter Merrill, Construction Dispute Resolution Services, Santa Fe, NM
David G. Ponder, Accountant and NMPAS Treasurer, Santa Fe, NM
Richard Skolnik, World Health Expert and Amateur Guitarist, White Rock, NM
Lori Stevens, Corporate Executive, Santa Fe, NM
David Van Winkle, Board Member at Large, Texas Instruments Executive and Amateur Pianist, (Ret.), Santa Fe, NM
NMPAS Staff and Consultants
Director Franz Vote
Franz Vote, Artistic Director
Franz Vote has been called one of the finest conductors of his generation. Named a “singer’s conductor” by reviewers, his rapport with musicians, both on stage and in the orchestra pit, elicits music-making of the highest level. Regarding his premiere of Les contes d’Hoffmann at the Metropolitan Opera, one reviewer noted, “… during the curtain call, a very unusual thing happened. Usually half or more of the musicians have left the orchestra pit by the time the conductor gets to take his curtain call, and he then has to stand there and extend his gratitude to an almost empty pit. Not this time. Last night most, if not all of the musicians stayed in their spots, and what’s more, they stood up and avidly applauded Franz Vote.”
Maestro Vote began his professional career in 1980 as a conductor at The Eastman School of Music and The Aspen Music Festival. In 1982 he was engaged at the Musiktheater im Revier in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, where he conducted Le nozze di Figaro, L’elisir d’amore, Giulio Cesare, Xerxes, and L’Orfeo. His successes there led to productions of Gianni Schicchi and Hans Werner Henze’s Don Chisciotte de la Mancia in Aachen. From there, he went to the Gärtnerplatz Theater in Munich and the Theater des Westens in Berlin. Maestro Vote’s approach to conducting is informed by extensive experience in German opera houses and his 1989 engagement at the Bayreuth Festival as Assistant Conductor to Daniel Barenboim and James Levine.
In 1990 he was invited by James Levine to join the Metropolitan Opera, conducting performances of Elektra, Madama Bufferfly, Un ballo in maschera, La forza del destino, Les contes d’Hoffmann, and the 1996 New Year’s Eve Gala. Placido Domingo invited him to lead Tokyo’s Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra for the Operalia Vocal Competition.
The Los Angeles native has collaborated with many of the world’s most prominent operatic artists, including Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Hildegard Behrens, Stephanie Blythe, Jane Eaglen, Renée Fleming, Galina Gorchakova, Ben Heppner, Jerry Hadley, James King, Susanne Mentzer, Richard Leach, Samuel Ramey, and Deborah Voigt, among many others.
Maestro Vote achieved international prominence and received high acclaim as Music Director of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen at Seattle Opera in 2001 with soprano Jane Eaglen. Called the “musical Wotan of the production…..a real master of Wagnerian style….a conductor who brings out the best in his players,’’ the New York Times noted that his performance was “beautiful, conceptually unified and musically strong…Mr. Vote brought vigor and textural clarity to the score.”
Recent seasons have included Opera Memphis’ Samson et Dalila with Barbara Dever and Otoniel Gonzaga, Aida and Salome for Orlando Opera, plus touring with that company to Toulon, France; Faust at Sarasota Opera, which Opera News called a “Faust, passionately, arrestingly conducted by Franz Vote, who was as interested in theatrical sweep as in nuances of tempo and phrasing.” His recent performances of Lucia di Lammermoor at Opera Naples were called the company’s “best ever…every section was strong, tightly meshed and well-rehearsed. Vote’s direction created a seamless tapestry from [the orchestra] and the singers…”
Franz Vote currently lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he is Music Director and Conductor of the New Mexico Bach Society and Vice-President of the New Mexico Performing Arts Society. He also guests conducts at various opera houses around the country.
Linda Marianiello
Linda Marianiello, Executive Director
Linda Marianiello has served as Executive Director of New Mexico Performing Arts Society (NMPAS) since our founding in October 2011. Her Artist Bio provides details of her long career as a professional flutist and Verne Q. Powell Artist.
As Executive Director, Linda is responsible for hiring the excellent New Mexico professionals who perform with NMPAS. She works closely with Artistic Director Franz Vote on artist selection, scheduling, programming, and other aspects of NMPAS’s Mission to bring high-quality musical experiences to communities throughout New Mexico. And she prioritizes collaboration with other arts and social service nonprofits: to date, NMPAS has participated in over 56 collaborative projects.
Linda Marianiello earned a B.A. with honors from Yale University. Her openness to lifelong learning, acquired at Yale, has helped her to gain new skills throughout her career. As Executive Director of NMPAS, she not only handles artist management, but also participates in financial planning, marketing, donor relationships, and teamwork with staff, consultants, and the NMPAS Board. The addition of Fundraising Consultant Emilie De Angelis to the team in 2020 has made a crucial difference to Linda’s – and the entire organization’s – ability to fully professionalize NMPAS with a Succession Plan in mind. As a founder, Linda is keenly aware of how important it is for NMPAS to continue beyond her time as Executive Director.
What makes service to NMPAS particularly meaningful for Linda is the relationships she has built with colleagues, staff, donors, business partners, and Board members. NMPAS has become a close-knit community of arts professionals, devoted audiences, and loyal supporters of our work.
Linda would like to thank the Santa Fe Community Foundation, The Center for Nonprofit Excellence, New Mexico Arts, the Santa Fe Arts & Culture Department, and NMPAS Advisory Board member James Bonnell, for hosting workshops that support the work of nonprofit staff, board members, and volunteers. Their generosity in helping to train nonprofit professionals of the future is deeply appreciated by Linda and the entire NMPAS team.
David G. Ponder, Accountant
In early 2013, David G. Ponder became a New Mexico resident. He then started Ponder Bookkeeping LLC while working 3.5 years part-time as the bookkeeper for the Upaya Zen Center before flying solo in his bookkeeping business. David has been the bookkeeper for Biographers International Organization for the past 6 years, serves as the treasurer for the Montecito Condo Association, and is on the advisory board for the Meadow City Academy of Music in Las Vegas, New Mexico. David Ponder served as NMPAS Treasurer for 2.5 years from 2019-2021.
Shannon Whitehead, Webmaster
Shannon has been involved in web design and development for 35+ years. His designs, UX/UI work can be seen in several Fortune 500 companies and other national entertainment sites. Shannon’s former career was a drummer in an 80’s rock band opening up for national acts like Flock of Seagulls, Spin Doctors, Sugar Ray and many others. He still has a passion for music and loves to golf in his down time.
Pete Monro, Film Habit, Inc., Videographer
Pete Monro joined the NMPAS team as resident videographer and live streamer. For obvious reasons, we have been so lucky to connect and collaborate with Pete during the pandemic. He is an experienced filmmaker, whose personal projects have been screened at festivals throughout the country. When Pete is not working with NMPAS or with his production company Film Habit Inc., he enjoys being a filmmaking mentor for True Kids 1, a Northern New Mexico nonprofit aimed at digital media literacy.
Peggy Hermann, Grant Writer
Annabella Farmer, Administrative Assistant
Franz Vote, Artistic Director
Linda Marianiello, Executive Director
Emilie De Angelis, Development
David G. Ponder, Accountant
Roger Rosales, Webmaster
Pete Monro, Film Habit, Inc., Videographer
Contact
Contact us at info@nmpas.org