the annual San Miguel Music Festival | Michael Martin Murphey | Allende | Taos School of Music
Bravo!
by
Porter AndersonKnown for its inspirational desert setting, some of the most
soul-stirring results are permanently on view in the Harwood
Museum's octagonal Agnes Martin Gallery, a special experience in a
surround setting with benches at the center for quiet contemplation
of Martin's globally praised, subtle abstract canvases. Larry
Bell's extraordinary work in glass contemporary sculpture and other
formats and media are always on view, too, at his own Studio Annex
on Ranchito Road.
It's not all on the abstract end, of course. Cowboy-song master
Michael Martin Murphey - whose Rocking 3M Wildcat Ranch is in Red
River - is known to play Taos when his concert schedule brings him
home. In the classical vein, you can catch performances of the Taos
School of Music's highly respected annual festival during most of
the summer, and watch for August's concerts of the Music from Angel
Fire chamber music festival.
San Miguel de
Allende, Mexico
When you head farther south to the jewel-like town of San Miguel de
Allende, in the heart of
Mexico, about midway between Guadalajara
and Queretaro, what you may notice first is the little city's
extensive roster of working, noted visual artists. Not unlike Taos,
the place is something of a destination for those with a vision and
the talent to express it, from tradition-based artisans (try the
new Artes Mexico gallery's collection of hand-wrought works in
copper) to the print abstracts of Jim Johnston, who moved from New
York to San Miguel in 1977.
The town's patron, Saint Michael, is feted each year on September
29. But repeat visitors learn that it's March in which they can see
the jacaranda trees in glorious bloom. Walking arts tours are
available if you can get yourself down the cobblestone streets
without stopping at one of the town's nouvelle-Mexican restaurants.
And if you want to hang on to this idea for a quick winter getaway,
in December, the annual San Miguel Music Festival is a staple of
the city's arts season.
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