Courtesy santafebandstand.org
Back when things were more lively in Santa Fe.
Among the spate of 2020 events cancelled due to COVID-19, the annual Santa Fe Bandstand series of free outdoor concerts was not immune. Fast forward to now, and stewardship of the Plaza music series will transition from local nonprofit Outside In to Santa Fe/Albuquerque promotions nonprofit AMP Concerts from this year through 2024.
"We never had any interest in taking on the series as long as Outside In and [its executive director] Michael Dellheim wanted to do it," says Jamie Lenfestey, AMP's director of Santa Fe operations. "I wouldn't say we're taking it over; we're going to assume stewardship of the series, and it's possible the name will change."
AMP Concerts is also behind the annual Railyard Concert Series, and Lenfestey says that if outdoor music is allowed in 2021, those events will still go on unaffected by the Plaza developments. He's also adamant that AMP will work with the Music on the Hill summer series to make sure there's little to no overlap when it comes to summer concert dates, and that shows will probably be hyper-local. As it stands, AMP is fresh off a series of safely executed drive-in events at Santa Fe's HIPICO equestrian center, though Lenfestey previously told SFR those events were tough to pull off and would probably not become a regular occurrence.
For any potential music on the Plaza this summer, however, Lenfestey says he's feeling both excited at the possibilities and indebted to Dellheim's years of hard work in curating memorable experiences. Dellheim took over the series in 2013 after the death of its founder, David Lescht, in 2012.
"It's about stepping into a void opened up by COVID-19, and we feel very well-equipped to fundraise and work with businesses and Santa Fe to create a great and fulfilling music series for all Santa Feans," Lenfestey adds. "For a town this size, Santa Fe has an enormous amount of free music in the summertime, and that's something we want to shine a light on."
Funding for the Santa Fe Bandstand has traditionally come from a mix of the city's 1% lodger's tax and fundraising conducted by Dellheim and Outside In. AMP Concerts will take over duties related to securing sponsorships and potential private funding. City tourism head Randy Randall tells SFR that, because of the financial constraints the pandemic has forced on the city, any dollars the city will be able to pony up will be limited.
"I think [AMP] recognized that fundraising is going to be more difficult," he tells SFR. "But they're willing to be more flexible as to how we approach the Plaza music series and how it might be scaled based on what level of fundraising can be achieved. But I think AMP has presented some really new ideas and some new ways to reinvent the music scene a little bit so it's more of an integrated program for Santa Fe."
Everything obviously hinges on public health orders and the state's red-to-green framework for public gatherings. For now, though, let us just bask in the warm glow of future possibilities.
"If we can find a path to doing shows in the summer of 2021, we'll do that," Lenfestey says. "If it's summer of 2022, we'll do that, too. We just very much want to honor the tradition that Outside In brought to the heart of Santa Fe."
