November 4- Silver City Festival Orchestra--Lonnie Klein conducting, featuring flamenco guitarist Robert Michaels
Fine Arts Center Theatre
7pm
$15
Conductor Lonnie Klein and the Silver City Festival Orchestra, featuring musicians from the Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra and the El Paso Symphony present, “Fire, Fury and Dance,” an evening of exciting symphonic and orchestral music, featuring flamenco guitarist Robert Michaels.
Program includes
Triumphal March from “Aida”- Giuseppe Verdi
Selections from “West Side Story” - Leonard Bernstein
Capriccio Espagnol- Rimsky-Korsakov
plus original pieces written and arranged by Robert Michaels
Lonnie Klein holds a Doctorate in Performance from the University of Illinois, a Master of Music from Michigan State University, and a Bachelor’s Degree from Murray State University. As a POPS conductor, Maestro Klein has produced and conducted concerts with such celebrated artists as Doc Severinsen, Mariachi Cobre, The Temptations, The Contours, The Dukes of Dixieland, 5 By Design, The Beatles, Sandi Patti, Lee Greenwood and Daniel Rodriquez.
From his inaugural concert with the Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra at New Mexico State University in October 1999, Maestro Lonnie Klein led the orchestra to new levels of artistic excellence, with high audience acclaim, rave reviews and nine consecutive seasons of sold-out concerts! James Houlik, renowned saxophonist, described Lonnie’s energy and vision “as a one-man ant hill!”
Multi-gold and platinum recording artist, Robert Michaels, has won the esteem of critics worldwide with award-winning performances that bring audiences to their feet every time. The Toronto Sun hails him, “Every inch a dazzling guitarist”, the Toronto Sun exclaims, “He is incomparable. And you simply must see him”, while the Ottawa Sun states simply, Michaels is an “Axe God.” Robert is well known as an intuitive musician with electric energy and a captivating blend of styles. He has engaged concertgoers across the globe with his heartfelt enthusiasm, leaving all with memories they won’t soon forget.
Robert’s instrumental music crosses over into samples and tastes from many genres, including flamenco guitar numbers. Michaels started his musical career in Canada, though his parents aren’t Canadian natives, but immigrated there from Italy. As a child, and then as a teen, Michaels was raised on a varied musical diet that found him being influenced by many different kinds of musicians and styles along the way, like Jimmy Page, Carlos Santana, and Wes Montgomery, and everything from rock, to tango, to jazz. 
November 7-Distinguished Speaker Series: Author Robert Kerbeck in Conversation with Valerie Plame
Light Hall Theater
7PM
Free
American author of Ruse: Lying the American Dream
Kerbeck’s essays and short stories have been featured in numerous magazines and literary journals. One of his stories was adapted into the award-winning film, Reconnected. A lifetime member of The Actors Studio, Kerbeck has worked extensively in theater, film, and television, appearing in lead roles in major shows and earning several awards. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Robert resides in Malibu.
Robert Kerbeck fought one of the worst fires in California history, the 2018 Woolsey Fire, to save his home. His debut book, Malibu Burning: The Real Story Behind LA’s Most Devastating Wildfire, won the 2020 IPPY Award as the Silver Medalist in Creative Nonfiction, the Readers’ Favorite Award as the Silver Medalist in Nonfiction Drama, and the Best of LA award.
His newest memoir, RUSE: Lying the American Dream from Hollywood to Wall Street, is a thrilling look into the world of corporate espionage and his career as a secret spy. Robert’s essays and short stories have been featured in numerous magazines and literary journals. 
November 16-
President’s Chamber Music Series –Ilya Yakushev
Fine Arts Center Theatre
7PM
$15
In collaboration with the Grant County Community Concert Association
Pianist Ilya Yakushev, with many awards and honors to his credit, continues to astound and mesmerize audiences at major venues on three continents.
The British label Nimbus Records released Yakushev’s CD, “Prokofiev Sonatas Vol. 1” CD. The American Record Guide wrote, “Yakushev is one of the very best young pianists before the public today, and it doesn’t seem to matter what repertoire he plays – it is all of the highest caliber.”
Ilya has performed in prestigious venues worldwide, including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall (New York), Davies Symphony Hall (San Francisco), and Sejong Performing Arts Center (Seoul, Korea), Great Philharmonic Hall (St. Petersburg), and Victoria Hall (Singapore). His performances with orchestra include those with the San Francisco Symphony, BBC Concert Orchestra, Boston Pops, Rochester Philharmonic, Utah Symphony, and many others.
In 2023-24, dozens of engagements bring Ilya from New York City to the West Coast for recitals, concertos and — with members of the renowned St. Lawrence String Quartet — chamber music. Many of his concerts will celebrate the triple anniversary of Rachmaninoff’s 150th birthday, the 150th anniversary of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” and the 100th anniversary of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” Ilya has put together a special slide show that accompanies his performances of “Pictures at an Exhibition,” showing the artwork depicted in the music.
Winner of the 2005 World Piano Competition which took place in Cincinnati, OH, Mr. Yakushev received his first award at age 12 as a prizewinner of the Young Artists Concerto Competition in his native St. Petersburg. In 1997, he received the Mayor of St. Petersburg’s Young Talents award, and in both 1997 and 1998, he won First Prize at the Donostia Hiria International Piano Competition in San Sebastián, Spain. Mr. Yakushev was a recipient of the prestigious Gawon International Music Society’s Award in Seoul, Korea.
In 2014, the British label Nimbus released his CD “Prokofiev Sonatas Vol. 1.” The American Record Guide wrote, “Yakushev is one of the very best young pianists before the public today, and it doesn’t seem to matter what repertoire he plays–it is all of the highest caliber.” Volume 2 was released in January 2017.
Ilya attended the Rimsky-Korsakov College of Music in St. Petersburg, Russia, and subsequently came to New York City to attend Mannes College of Music where he studied with legendary pianist Vladimir Feltsman. 
November 28 Stephane Wrembel Quartet
Light Hall Theater
7pm
$15
Stephane Wrembel is one of the most highly regarded guitarists in the world specializing in the style of legendary composer/guitarist Django Reinhardt; he learned his craft among the Gypsies at campsites in the French countryside. He has had a remarkable career, touring the world, while releasing 16 albums under his name and the nom de plume, The Django Experiment.
His original compositions have been featured in Woody Allen’s Vicki Cristina Barcelona (“Big Brother”) and Midnight in Paris (“Bistro Fada”). He contributed the original score for Rifkin’s Festival (starring Wallace Shawn, Gina Gershon and Christophe Waltz) released on January 28, 2022. In October of 2019, Wrembel released the highly regarded Django L’Impressionniste, featuring 17 of Reinhardt’s preludes for solo guitar, followed by a book of his transcriptions in April of 2021.
Since 2003, Wrembel has produced the Django a Gogo Festival, bringing together some of the finest musicians in the world to celebrate the Sinti guitar style to perform in prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall and The Town Hall. His program, Django New Orleans, recently sold out 8 shows at Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center. His new program, Shades of Django, will be presented in PACs around the country in the fall of 2022, including 2 nights in the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center. 
December 01 Jingle & Mingle
December 1st, 5pm
Regents Square, WNMU Campus
Bring the family to Jingle & Mingle at Regents Square for a festive seasonal celebration, Friday, December 1, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. Enjoy live music and entertainment, children’s crafting activities, seasonal treats, photo ops, ugly sweater contest, tamales, special guests Santa and Elves, and a reading of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas by President Shepard.
Jingle and Mingle is outdoors and free to the public.