Border Jazz Orchestra concert celebrates diversity

The Border Jazz Orchestra (BJO) will present its final concert of the season at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 13, in Atkinson Recital Hall, inside the New Mexico State University Music Building, 1075 N. Horseshoe St. on campus.

Admission is $15. Tickets will be available at the door and can be purchased online at

https://checkout.square.site/buy/FOANKFOL6NZQY6XWLCGOM4BH.

The theme of the concert is “Migrations, A Celebration of Cultural Diversity in Music,” said Frank “Pancho” Romero, emeritus professor of music at NMSU and president of the Mesilla Valley Jazz and Blues Society (MVJBS).

Music for the concert was written by Fred Sturm, former professor at the Eastman School of Music and Lawrence University, for jazz vocalist Bobby McFerrin, Romero said.

“Migration, in this case, (means) bringing culture in music together from throughout the world, written in a jazz ensemble setting,” Romero said.

The program includes “Didjeridu,” which derives from the indigenous Aboriginal music of northern Australia; “Highlands,” which is Irish fiddle music of the 1800s and bagpipe music from Scotland; “Rhythm of the Rainforest,” which incorporates a beautiful, ritualized dance melody created by the Mbuti Pygmy tribe of the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and “Rajasthan,” which is an example of Gypsy (Romani) folk music from Rajasthan, India’s largest state, Romero said. 

Featured musicians include Jessika Brust, violin; Allan Kaplan, trombone; James Shearer, tuba; Chantal Camus, bass; and Miguel Torres, piano.

BJO is a professional jazz ensemble comprised of the region’s finest jazz musicians, said Romero, who founded the orchestra in 1991. BJO has performed with many internationally recognized jazz musicians, including Chris Vadala, John Fedchock, Hilary Smith, Bobby Shew, Clay Jenkins, Dana Landry and Pete McGuinness, he said, and members of the ensemble, mostly jazz educators, have toured with jazz greats The Glen Miller Band, Woody Herman, Airmen of Note, Wayne Newton and Elvis Presley. They have performed on stage with Richie Cole, Bill Watrous, Tia Fuller, The Supremes, The Temptations, The Four Tops and Sandy Hackett’s Rat Pack, along with decades of jazz performances at jazz festivals and regional concerts, Romero said.

Contact Romero at mvjbspres@gmail.com.