Santa Fe: Special Orchestra Performs at Capitol

[webmaster]

Governor Invites Statewide Orchestra Group
To Perform at Roundhouse

Santa Fe - At the invitation of Governor Bill Richardson, members of the New Mexico Special Orchestra (http://www.specialorchestra.org/)<SUP>®</SUP><SUP></SUP> -- a non profit group whose purpose is to enable children and adults of all abilities to share in the joy of making music -- <img src=http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/sp049.gif align=right border=0 vspace=5 hspace=5><img src=http://steppinoutnewmexico.com/images/sp045.jpg align=left border=0 vspace=5 hspace=5>will be performing at the Rotunda of the State Capitol Roundhouse in Santa Fe, on Saturday, February 17th at noon. Friends and supporters of Special Orchestra (http://www.specialorchestra.org/)<SUP>®</SUP><SUP></SUP> are invited to attend this unique performance event.

This isn't the first time the Special Orchestra (http://www.specialorchestra.org/)<SUP>®</SUP><SUP></SUP> has performed for Governor Richardson. The group was also invited to perform for Richardson and his guests on one of the maiden runs the RailRunner rapid transit train in 2006.

The orchestra's coordinators plan to find a nice place in Santa Fe for the group to have lunch, afterwards. Guests who attend the concert are invited to join them for lunch. Roundhouse sources have indicated parking is more likely to be available on the west side of the Capitol building.

For more information about this special performance please call 864-3749 or visit www.specialorchestra.org (http://www.specialorchestra.org/)


THIS PROJECT IS FUNDED IN PART BY NEW MEXICO ARTS, A DIVISION OF THE OFFICE OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS, AND THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS
Special Orchestra, Inc. is a non profit organization whose purpose is to enable children and adults of all abilities to share in the joy of making music

[pengwen]

By pengwen
©2007 SONewMex.com

Santa Fe – I do not remember the last time I had so much fun watching someone else have so much fun!
Six members of the Special Orchestra led by conductor and Special Orchestra founder Gair Linhart played at the Capitol Rotunda on Saturday, Feb. 17. The noon concert was part of a series of noon performances scheduled while the legislature is in session to feature the talents and cultures of New Mexicans.
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This wasn’t a Saturday later in the session in which legislators were busy trying to jam all their decisions into the last few days. There weren’t large crowds of people and parking was fairly easy to come by. But, the performance of the Special Orchestra drew a good crowd of interested people who stopped to listen.
They began with “Moon Shadow” and through the next hour, four of the six musicians were featured as soloists: Daniel Gonzales, playing guitar, was ecstatic to learn he would get to sing “La Bamba” while Laura Creighton, who played an enthusiastic fiddle, was in her glory singing, “Born To Be Wild.”
In between there were pictures with Sen. Pro Tem Ben Altimirano, a good supporter of Special Orchestra (who stayed for the entire concert and bought them lunch afterward) and a running patter of talk, mostly between Gair, Bryan Castleberry and Kevin Lord, the two main singers.
Gair kidded Bryan that he had seen Elvis just that morning as he drove up to Santa Fe. “Elvis,” Bryan would drawl, “Elvis is dead, Gair.” Bryan was happiest on the snare drum but also looked pleased to be holding the microphone.
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Kevin Lord has a voice that could cause even the hardest heart to melt. Plus he does some really good imitations of TV show hosts.
The orchestra was rounded out with Jeanie Garrison playing the xylophone and Rachel Martinez on drum and cymbals. She’s the reason I say I haven’t seen anyone have so much fun. She would wait patiently until the music began again and then she’d get this little smile on her face and start beating away. Sometimes it looked like she would plum wear herself out before the end of a song but she always seemed to get another burst of steam and keep going.
Jeanie Garrison is from Sandia Park; Laura, Kevin & Daniel live in Albuquerque and Bryan is in Valencia County. They are, said Gair, only a few of the members of the wider Special Orchestra which holds regular rehearsals in Albuquerque and in Belen and has dozens of public performances each year. They have performed at the Special Olympics in Ireland and recently were featured during the Railrunner opening in Bernalillo.
You can experience the fun yourself during the Special Orchestra Music Festival on Sunday, April 15 at the Old Town Plaza beginning at 1 pm. For more information, email gair@specialorchestra.org or call 505-877-3193.
Special Orchestra is a 501-C non-profit organization founded by Gair who is a multi-talented artist and musician in his own right. For more information about Special Orchestra visit their website, www.specialorchestra.org For more information about Gair, visit his new website, www.gair88.com