History of the New Mexico Philharmonic

New Mexico Philharmonic (NMPhil) is the state’s largest professional classical symphony orchestra, and second only to the Santa Fe Opera as the largest performing arts organization in New Mexico.  It is composed of 75 conservatory trained professional musicians.

The New Mexico Philharmonic (NMPhil) was incorporated in New Mexico by musicians of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra (NMSO) as a non-profit organization July 23, 2010. The NMSO had functioned successfully from its founding in 1932 until economic challenges came to a head during the 2008 recession and it declared bankruptcy. The NMPhil  “went live” to activate its board of directors and to begin to raise funds to purchase the music library of the NMSO. By the fall of 2011, the NMPhil had successfully kept most of the NMSO musicians, raised over $100,000 to purchase the key assets of the NMSO to begin operation, hired an executive director from restricted funds from an anonymous donor, and began performing its first season.

Since then, the NMPhil has grown successfully and has become the flagship classical music organization in New Mexico, performing for more than 50,000 audience members each season. NMPhil is a vital part of New Mexico’s cultural and economic scene at a time when other professional orchestras around the country are failing. Its extensive education programs serve over 20,000 public school students at no cost to parents or children. NMPhil has been recognized for its excellence by Quality New Mexico with both the Piñón and Road Runner awards. And is the first professional arts organization, in the nation, to be so awarded!

  • Piñón award — Recognized for its excellence by Quality New Mexico.  Level means through a full assessment the organization shows evidence it is in early stages of using systematic processes and data to attain improved overall outcomes.

  • Road Runner award — Recognized for its excellence by Quality New Mexico.  Level means through a full assessment the organization demonstrates progress in building sound and systematic processes and attaining improved outcomes.

  • 50,000 audience members

  • Education programs serving over 20,000 public school students at no cost

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