If all the āHo, ho, ho!ā makes you want to scream āNo, no, no!ā this is the section for you. There are many worthy events in town this time of year that are guaranteed to be tinsel free, including the following.
(A list of venues is at the end of the story.)
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22
Eden Prairie, 1971
Unlike the stars of Eden Prairie, 1971, director Nicholas āNicoā Ballas vividly recalls both the Vietnam War era and his activism against it. That experience helped him not only guide the cast about the sensibilities of the time but shape the playās wardrobe; co-star Koppany Pusztaiās costume includes a pair of bell-bottom jeans Ballas has owned for more than 50 years.
Chloe Carson portrays Rachel, a resident of the Minneapolis suburb mentioned in the title who receives a surprise visit from her draft-dodging high school friend Pete, played by Pusztai. Karen Ryan portrays Rachelās mother.
The final performance on December 1 is followed by a talk-back involving the actors and director.
7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, November 22-23 and 29-30; 2 p.m. Sunday, November 24, and December 1; New Mexico Actors Lab, $17-$37
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23
Thokozani Ndumiso Mhlambi
Chatter
South African composer, cellist, and vocalist Thokozani Ndumiso Mhlambi explores the musical legacy of his homeland by combining their elements with aspects of classical music. Heās known for speaking with his audiences while onstage, to illuminate African traditions, then delighting attendees with his mesmeric playing and vocal textures.
10:30 a.m., Center for Contemporary Arts, $17
Tosca
The Met: Live in HD
A top-tier cast headlines Giacomo Pucciniās Tosca, which is up next on The Met: Live in HD series. Soprano Lise Davidsen takes on the title role, with tenor Freddie De Tommaso as her lover, Cavaradossi, and baritone Quinn Kelsey as the predatory Baron Scarpia. Metropolitan Opera Music Director Yannick NĆ©zet-SĆ©guin conducts; the stage director of the attractive but not particularly revelatory production is David McVicar.
11 a.m., Lensic Performing Arts Center, $22-$28
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24
Dmytro Choni
Los Alamos Concert Association
In June 2022 Ukrainian pianist Dmytro Choni won the bronze medal at the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, with the Dallas Morning News saying, āEach time he strode onstage, it was with winning confidence and a big smile. Heās clearly an accomplished, assured ā and communicative ā pro.ā His Los Alamos recital includes works by Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Claude Debussy, and Valentin Silvestrov, Choniās 87-year-old countryman who is considered Ukraineās preeminent living composer and is now a refugee living in Germany.
3 p.m., Duane Smith Auditorium, $40
NOVEMBER 30
Mozart Piano Quartet No. 2
Chatter
Mozart essentially invented the piano quartet form with his 1785 work in G Minor; it was so challenging to play that his publisher released him from having to write the two remaining quartets in his contract. He finished No. 2 anyway, a year later, and itās one of the supreme works in the genre. Violinist Elizabeth Young, violist Margaret Dyer Harris, cellist Amy Huzjak, and pianist Judith Gordon perform it here, along with Edward Elgarās āSalut dāAmourā for violin and piano and Reena Esmailās āSaansā (āBreathā) for piano trio.
10:30 a.m., Center for Contemporary Arts, $17
DECEMBER 5
Iris DeMent at the KiMo
Head to °®¶¹appās beautiful KIMO theater to spend an evening with Iris DeMent, whoās in the middle of an American and European tour that will continue into early 2025. Her inimitable voice comes straight from black and white movies, and her melodies combine old country sounds, hymns, and gospel that will warm your heart as the weather outside cools down. DeMentās latest and seventh album, Workinā On A World, released in 2023, was inspired by her worry about our countryās survival after the 2016 elections. Perhaps itās time we revisit her songs and take comfort in her lyrics.
7:30 p.m., KiMo Theatre, $32-$54
Youāre a Good Man, Charlie Brown
Christine McHughās main job is working as an intimacy coordinator for TV and films, but she returns to theater to direct Santa Fe Playhouseās final production of the season. She says she was drawn to Charlie Brown in part because it visits themes common in adultsā lives. The December 5-6 shows are pay-as-you-will ad°®¶¹app. The show stars Dakotah Lopez as Charlie Brown; Rikki Carroll, Sally; Kate Bergeron, Lucy; Kelsey Landon, Snoopy; Malcom Morgan-Petty, Schroeder; Jeffrey Barba, Linus; Rachel Biggs; and David James Garcia.
7:30 p.m. December 5-7, 12-14, 19-21, 27-28; 2 p.m. December 8, 15, 22, 28-29, Santa Fe Playhouse, $15-$60
DECEMBER 19
Bach Solo Cello Suites, Part 1
Santa Fe Pro Musica
Wait a second here. Didnāt Pro Musica offer the Bach cello suites just a year ago? The answer is yes, but their return doesnāt betray a lack of imagination ā this year theyāre played on the violin by MacArthur Foundation Fellow Johnny Gandelsman. Weāll be hearing them in a completely different way, without the celloās grandeur, but with an improvised sensibility that hearkens back to the early dance and folk forms upon which many of the movements are based. The BBC Music Magazine said of them: āGandelsman fully embraces the violinās natural brilliance and fleet-footed deftness. The gigue finales go with a real swing, rhythmically inflected with a delightful touch of Irish folk-fiddle.ā The first three suites are on this program; the remaining three are offered the following evening.
7:30 p.m., St. Francis Auditorium, $26-$98
DECEMBER 20
Bach Solo Cello Suites, Part 2
Santa Fe Pro Musica
Gandelsman essays the fourth, fifth, and sixth suites at this concert, with a twist for the final one. Itās physically impossible to play No. 6 as written on a standard violin, so he com°®¶¹apped a luthier to build a five-string version for it, adding another touch of the folk music tradition to his performance.
7:30 p.m., St. Francis Auditorium, $26-$98
DECEMBER 28
Vaughan Williams Piano Quintet
Chatter
°®¶¹appās wunderkind Toby Vigneau, recently appointed assistant principal double bass of the Philadelphia Orchestra, returns to launch this concert with Polish composer Mieczyslaw Weinbergās 1971 Sonata for Double Bass. For the finale, Ralph Vaughan Williamsā Piano Quintet, heās joined by violinist David Felberg, violist Kim Fredenburgh (who doubles as Tobyās mom), and pianist Judith Gordon.
10:30 a.m., Center for Contemporary Arts, $17
Bach and Beyond, Part 1
Santa Fe Pro Musica
Violinist and Artistic Director Colin Jacobsen leads the complete Brandenburg Concertos by Bach, plus several short modern works, over a two-day span. Brandenburgs No. 1, No. 4, and No. 6 are on the opening concert. No. 1 has the most complex sonorities, thanks to the size of the ensemble and the ground-breaking use of horns as solo instruments. No. 4 treats the violin as virtually a solo instrument, while No. 6 has no violins at all, giving it a particularly mellow quality. The program also includes short works by the still-active, 98-year-old Gyƶrgy KurtƔg, whose output is notable for its emotional immediacy and compact structures, and by Alfred Schnittke, a late 20th-century Russian composer who was deeply influenced by the music of Dmitri Shostakovich.
7:30 p.m., St. Francis Auditorium, $26-$98
DECEMBER 29
Bach and Beyond, Part 2
Santa Fe Pro Musica
The three best-known Brandenburgs are featured on this concert, starting with No. 5, which is considered the first harpsichord concerto ever composed. The high-flying solo trumpet part in Concerto No. 2 was long considered unplayable by 20th-century performers ā Pablo Casalsā breakthrough recording from the 1950s substituted a soprano saxophone for it ā and it remains challenging today. Those of a certain vintage may remember No. 3 fondly (and perhaps a bit purple-hazily) as the first cut on 1968ās Switched-On Bach album.
3 p.m., St. Francis Auditorium, $26-$98
DECEMBER 31
Joe Illick and the New Yearās Eve Orchestra
Lensic Performing Arts Center
āHappy New Year!ā will seem wimpy in comparison to the joyful sounds to be made by the New Yearās Eve Orchestra and Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico. Conductor Joe Illick (whose credits include serving as artistic director of Performance Santa Fe and the Greater Miami Opera) will lead them and soloists Jennifer Rowley, Mariam Mouawad, Joshua Blue, and Zachary Nelson in Beethovenās mighty āChoralā Symphony No. 9. Its fourth movement is the celebrated āOde to Joyā for vocalists plus orchestra, a four-section symphony-within-a-symphony that sets rafters ringing and hearts soaring.
5 p.m., Lensic Performing Arts Center, $30-$80
Special Note to Families: Thereās an open rehearsal at 1 p.m. on December 31, with tickets at $5 for children and $20 for adults. ā¶Ä