A Different Kind of Festival in “The City Different”

The Festival draws inspiration from its namesake hometown, which is famously and affectionately known as the City Different. And things are different here, both in Santa Fe and at the Festival.

Our approach to concert programming is different. It’s unusual to have a composer as Artistic Director, and Marc Neikrug ‘composes’ each adventuresome program like a piece of music. And while you’re sure to hear many familiar favorites each season, the Festival is also a major showcase for contemporary composers, having commissioned and premiered over 100 new works to date.

The way musicians play here is different. Santa Fe is a mecca for the world’s best artists, who view it as a special place where they get to perform repertoire they don’t get to do elsewhere and play with musicians they don’t get to play with elsewhere.

The natural beauty of Santa Fe is singular, and the SFCMF’s two concert venues have a unique quality to them, particularly the St. Francis Auditorium at the New Mexico Museum of Art, where our first concert was held in 1973. St. Francis was built in 1917, but it feels like a 17th-century church.

And the audience experience is different. People come here to connect with Santa Fe’s history and creative community, and there is so much musical variety from which to choose, which is possible because SFCMF has the longest season of any American chamber musical festival.

Vibrations in the Air: The Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival – 50 Years

History

The husband-and-wife duo of pianist Alicia Schachter-Rich and music producer Sheldon Rich were visiting Santa Fe from New York City when they got the idea to create an international chamber music festival in the high-desert city with which they’d become enchanted. Since its start in 1973, the Festival has been a magnet for musicians and music lovers alike.

Festival Commissions

The Festival brings new music to life by championing living composers, from the most important and influential to the most intriguing up-and-comers. Since 1980, we have presented at least one commissioned work almost every year.

Explore the 2025 Season