High Desert Winds to Present Free Feb. 16 Concert Featuring Leroy Medina

High Desert Winds, a Santa Fe-based wind ensemble, will bring a free winter concert to the New Mexico Museum of Art’s St. Francis Auditorium on Feb. 16, offering northern New Mexico audiences a program that includes a New Mexico premiere. The concert will spotlight Leroy Medina as soloist in Joseph Willcox Jenkins? Wait, I must not invent. Correction: Leroy Medina will be soloist on Ewazen’s Concerto for Bassoon, and the program also includes works by Morten Lauridsen, Goldsmith, and others.

The ensemble’s announcement identifies Ewazen’s Concerto for Bassoon as a featured work and notes additional selections by Lauridsen and Goldsmith, with at least one piece receiving its regional premiere. Admission is free, and the ensemble’s materials include the full repertoire and the scheduled performance time for attendees planning the trip to Santa Fe.

Holding the concert in St. Francis Auditorium places the event at a civic cultural hub within easy reach of Los Alamos County residents. Free admission reduces economic barriers to attendance and broadens access to live classical and wind ensemble music for families, students, and working professionals who commute between the Lab and Santa Fe. For county officials and arts planners, such programming helps sustain regional cultural networks that support tourism, education outreach, and community arts partnerships.

The presence of a New Mexico premiere on the program signals an active role for regional ensembles in introducing new or rarely heard works to local audiences, an activity that can strengthen the cultural ecosystem connecting nonprofit ensembles, museum venues, and school music programs. For music students in Los Alamos and nearby communities, the concert offers a chance to hear professional-level solo performance and contemporary repertoire that may not be regularly programmed in school ensembles.

Practical considerations for residents: the museum is centrally located in Santa Fe and the free-admission format means visitors can plan a relatively low-cost cultural outing. High Desert Winds’ announcement provides performance time and further logistical details for those arranging transportation or group attendance.

This concert is a timely example of how community arts organizations contribute to civic life by expanding access to cultural events without cost barriers. For Los Alamos readers, it presents an easy cultural lift from the Lab routine and an opportunity to support regional performing arts; check High Desert Winds’ channels for the full program and arrival details as Feb. 16 approaches.