30 Best Performing Arts in New Mexico, USA

Held the second full weekend in July, this market sprawls across Museum Hill parking lots and plazas as the world's largest folk art market. More than 150 master folk artists from every corner of the planet come together to sell their work amid a festive array of huge tents, colorful banners, music, food, and delighted crowds. The feeling of fellowship and celebration here enhances the satisfaction of buying wonderful folk art—it's truly an experience you won't have anywhere else in the world. If you aren't in town during IFAM weekend, the nonprofit has a showroom/store open to the public in its headquarters near the capital at 620 Cerrillos Road.

Author and Santa Fe resident George R. R. Martin, of Game of Thrones fame, restored this intimate, funky Railyard District art-movie house into a busy neighborhood favorite. The single-screen theater is a great place to catch first-run films, indie flicks, cult classics, and traveling selections from international film festivals. The lobby has a small bar and coffee shop to complete the indie vibe. Next door, Martin also operates Beastly Books which focuses, of course, on science fiction and fantasy.

Santa Fe's vintage Downtown movie house has been fully restored and converted into the 850-seat Lensic Performing Arts Center. The grand 1931 building, with Moorish and Spanish Renaissance influences, hosts the Santa Fe Symphony, theater, classic films, lectures and readings, noted world, pop, and jazz musicians, and many other prominent events. The Lensic 360 program also presents music festivals and large-scale concerts in other locations throughout the city.

Of the three notable performance halls in UNM's Center for the Arts, Popejoy Hall, with just under 2,000 seats, is the city's go-to for the New Mexico Philharmonic, blockbuster Broadway touring shows, dance performances, concerts, comedy acts, and lectures. Rodey Theatre, a smaller, 420-seat house in the same complex, stages experimental and niche works throughout the year while Keller Hall, a 274-seater with superb acoustics, is the perfect home for the much-acclaimed annual John Donald Robb Composers' Symposium for new music (in spring) and the university's excellent chamber music program.

This outstanding festival runs mid-July through late August, with performances nearly every night at the art-filled St. Francis Auditorium, or, occasionally, the Lensic Performing Arts Center. There are also free youth-oriented concerts given on several summer mornings.

Flamenco music and dance speak to something in Albuquerque’s soul, and for folks new to the tradition or yearning for a taste, this venue—with food and wine to match—is the perfect spot to kindle that flame. In an intimate, appropriately sultry setting, enjoy the four-course prix fixe menu offered with evening performances or small bites with the Sunday matinee. Arrive early, and be dazzled by the world-class artists performing here.

Albuquerque Little Theatre is a nonprofit community troupe that's been going strong since 1930. Its staff of professionals teams up with local volunteer talent to produce comedies, dramas, musicals, and mysteries that range from Amadeus to The Odd Couple and Singin' in the Rain. The company theater, across the street from Old Town, was built in 1936, and though its facade has been redesigned in recent years, there are still many clues that the original design was by John Gaw Meem. It contains an art gallery, a large lobby, and a cocktail lounge.

The esteemed company presents several ballet performances throughout the year at the Lensic Performing Arts Center.

Several organizations produce flamenco concerts around town, including the prestigious Entreflamenco Company, which offers dinner-and-a-show at El Flamenco just a few blocks from the Plaza.

Tierra del Encanto Ballet Folklorico performs folk dances of Mexico at the annual weekend in November.

The stunning KiMo Theatre, an extravagantly ornamented 650-seat Pueblo Deco movie palace, is one of the best places in town to see any type of show. Jazz, dance, blues, film—everything from traveling road shows to an inspired city-sponsored film series (Hitchcock pre-Hollywood, for example)—might turn up here. Former Albuquerque resident Vivian Vance of I Love Lucy fame once performed on the stage; today you're more likely to see Laurie Anderson, Wilco, or a film-festival screening.

Summer stock rules at the Lions Wilderness Amphitheater between mid-June and mid-August. Broadway shows are the usual fare of the Sandstone Theatre's series, which is presented outdoors here in a natural sandstone amphitheater. Performances are usually in the evening, Thursday–Sunday; prior to each show, theatergoers may enjoy an optional Southwestern-style dinner.

Begun in 2006 and now widely acclaimed, this nearly monthlong festival presents numerous concerts in both Santa Fe and Albuquerque from mid-July through early August. Recent performers have included Stanley Clarke, the Yellowjackets, Dianne Reeves, and Allen Toussaint.

New Mexico State University presents lectures, concerts, sports, and other special events at its Pan American Center.

From September through May, this nonprofit organization (aka the Santa Fe Concert Association) founded in 1937 presents symphony and solo classical concerts, lectures, dance recitals, opera, and family-minded shows at several venues around town, including the Lensic, St. Francis Auditorium, and United Church of Santa Fe. The organization has brought a number of prestigious talents to Santa Fe over the years, including Wynton Marsalis, Patti Lupone, the Russian National Ballet, and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble.

A rare two-story adobe theater, the Rio Grande was restored and refurbished inside and out in 2005. This 1926 vintage movie house now functions as performing-arts space. Note the spritely colored blue-and-green bas-relief trim on the brick-, tile-, and stucco Italian Renaissance facade; the classically incised tin ceiling; and the bright-red neon sign. With 422 seats—including a balcony—it's just the right size for the film series, spoken word, and live music events it currently hosts.

San Juan College Theater presents performances by the San Juan Symphony and other concerts, student recitals, and theatrical performances.

Tuesday through Saturday nights throughout July and August, free concerts are staged at the bandstand in Downtown's festive and historic Plaza or occasionally at Swan Park on the South Side (off NM 599). A number of nationally noteworthy artists have appeared for this event, where the music ranges from Spanish guitar to blues to rockabilly.

Performances take place over about three weeks in late July and early August at a variety of intriguing venues, from the Cathedral Basilica St. Francis to Loretto Chapel. This highly regarded singing group, which was started in 1982, also performs during the December holiday season.

With the film industry booming in New Mexico, this five-day event held in mid-February has become increasingly well attended, and film screenings, workshops, and discussion panels take place at venues around the city. Movie buffs should also mark their calendars for the Santa Fe Independent Film Festival (www.santafeindependentfilmfestival.com), which takes place over four days in mid-October, with an emphasis, of course, on indie flicks.

The oldest extant theater company west of the Mississippi, the Santa Fe Playhouse occupies a converted 19th-century adobe stable and has been presenting an adventurous mix of avant-garde pieces, classical drama, and musical comedy since 1922—the season runs year-round. The Fiesta Melodrama—a spoof of the Santa Fe scene—pokes sly fun from late August to mid-September.

First-rate orchestra and chamber concerts are given at St. Francis Auditorium and the Lensic Performing Arts Center by the Grammy-nominated Santa Fe Pro Musica from September through April. Baroque and other classical compositions are the normal fare; the annual Christmas performance, held at Loretto Chapel, is a highlight.

This highly respected symphony performs about 10 concerts each season (September to May) in the Lensic Performing Arts Center.

Shuler Theater presents late-summer concerts, Music from Angel Fire (a program that brings world-class chamber music to various venues in northern New Mexico). Children's theater, local college productions, and traveling dance, folk dance, and vocal evenings are scheduled throughout the year.

A 514-seat venue hosting top-tier performances from jazz musicians to international ballet dancers can be found in the Spencer Theater for the Performing Arts. The white, templelike building looms majestically amid mountain vistas just north of Ruidoso and is one of the state's cultural icons. Tickets run $20 to $55, and free tours are given Tuesday and Thursday beginning at 10. Local children sometimes act in special free summer performances; outdoor summer music concerts are also offered.

This historic space with colorful murals inside the Museum of Fine Arts is a top venue for many cultural events such as theatrical productions and concerts.

From mid-June to early August the Taos School of Music fills the evenings with the sounds of chamber music at the Taos School of Music Program and Festival. Running strong since 1963, this is America's oldest chamber music summer program and possibly the largest assembly of top string quartets in the country. Concerts are presented a couple of times a week from mid-June through early August, at the Taos Community Auditorium and at Hotel St. Bernard at Taos Ski Valley. Tickets cost $25. The events at Taos Ski Valley are free.

The Fountain Theatre, which still has its original 1870s facade and vintage murals from the 1910s and 1920s inside, was bought in 1905 by the prominent Fountain family, who began showing movies here in 1912. Now under the aegis of the Mesilla Valley Film Society, the oldest continuously operating theater in New Mexico presents independent films, amateur theater, and some chamber music concerts.

In January and February, theater fans of the fresh and new flock to the Revolutions International Theatre Festival, presented by the Tricklock Company. Recognized internationally, Tricklock mounts productions throughout the year and emphasizes works that take it—and the audience—to the edge of theatrical possibility.