Welcome

Dear Friends of the Arts, As president of the Placitas Artists Series Board of Directors, I welcome you to our twenty- eighth season.  We have an incredible offering of concerts this season, and I trust you will enjoy every one of them. Welcome also to the new look of our website, which features Dianna Shomaker’s winning, juried entry in last year’s statewide call for New Mexico artist entries to brand our publicity materials this year. Let me draw your attention to a couple of issues that are important to the folks that put these programs together each year.  First, you may be aware that many serious music organizations have faced severe financial difficulties in the past few years.  Orchestras have folded, have declared bankruptcy, and have cancelled parts of their seasons.  I am happy to report that PAS is totally solvent.  We squirrel away funds to ensure that every season is covered financially before we commit to the performers.  But, the cost of world-class performers is rising.  We depend on our donors, sponsors, and other contributors to maintain this financial stability --- my thanks to every one of you.  A few years ago, we established an endowment fund to ensure that concerts of high quality may continue into the future.  We hope to eventually present an endowed concert.  We are not there yet; our endowment fund is growing, but we need your help.  Help make a strong and continuing endowment a reality.  Click on Support PAS to view ways that you can help to maintain musical excellence. A second focus of PAS is to encourage young people to come to our concerts.  To this end we have adopted two policies.  First (and this has been long-standing) is that students are admitted at a reduced admission. This is a wonderful opportunity to introduce your children and grandchildren to fine music.  Also, music students, private or public, choral or orchestral, are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult. If we have the funds to continue offering concerts, and a desire on the part of young people to enjoy music and art of the highest quality, our future is ensured. We have an outstanding concert series to offer this season, including piano (four hands!), classical and other guitar, and violin solos and duos.  Plus, we have the varied chamber concerts presented by Willy Sucre and his friends.  Couple this with month-long exhibits of works in numerous media by over 40 talented visual artists selected by jury, and you have many reasons to join us on Sunday afternoons.  Take a few minutes to browse information about the upcoming concert season and visual arts exhibits beginning in September 2014. I was in line, waiting to enter the Musée d’Orsay in Paris; also in line was a group of American music students on tour.  The t-shirt that one young man was wearing said, “Without music, the world would B♭.”I agree! Thank you for visiting today; I look forward to seeing you at a concert and artist reception during the 2014-2015 Season. Sincerely, Richard Reif President, Placitas Artists Series