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The historic Lensic Performing Arts Center is the city’s go-to for something sorta fancy.
After eight and six years, respectively, with Albuquerque-based nonprofit concerts organization AMP Concerts, promoters Jamie Lenfestey and Tim Franke have accepted positions at the Lensic Performing Arts Center under a new initiative dubbed Lensic 360, which will find the Santa Fe arts center branching out into events beyond its flagship downtown theater. Lenfestey will take on the role of director of the new program, with Franke serving as associate director.
Readers are no doubt familiar with Lenfestey and Franke’s work in music venues around town. Lenfestey has been putting on shows since 1992, previously with nonprofit Heath Concerts and, before that, Fan Man Productions. The two have produced events at the Santa Fe Opera, the free Summer Railyard Series and Santa Fe Salutes shows, as well as, in recent years, the Santa Fe Bandstand concerts on the Plaza that were previously curated by nonprofit Outside In. Lenfestey has also booked shows at the Lensic since 2001, when it was renovated and reopened after a period of disrepair in the ’90s.
“This was not something I’d seen on the radar screen,” Lenfestey tell SFR of the move, “but [Lensic Executive Director] Joel Aalberts had been looking for ways for the Lensic to expand its reach as the premier performing arts center in the state. It’s one stage; there are only so many days in the year and there’s just so much more we can do.”
In addition to upcoming events at its namesake venue, Lensic 360 will also find Lenfestey and Franke booking at venues such as the Santa Fe Opera, Meow Wolf, The Bridge at Santa Fe Brewing Company, plus Kit Carson Park in Taos as well as Albuquerque’s National Hispanic Cultural Center, El Rey Theater and elsewhere.
“It extends our reach in how we get into the communities where people live,” Aalberts tells SFR. “We already do so many things that are focused on the community as a whole, this makes those opportunities greater and allows us to engage with different arts experiences. It’s a great way for us to have a lifelong connection with an audience, from the very first performing arts you come to as a kindergartner to your time in the clubs to coming back to the theater as an adult.”
Lenfestey credits the Lensic’s reopening as a major factor in his decision to stay in Santa Fe long-term in the first place. Shortly before the once-dark movie and performance theater rose like some kind of deathless art phoenix back in the early aughts, he had planned on moving to California. News of the then-revamped space convinced him to stay, he says, and, in many ways, his new position feels like a homecoming, thus the 360 moniker.
“My career took off when the Lensic reopened,” he explains. “And Tim [Franke] started in the box office there, so for both of us, it’s nice coming full circle.”
Courtesy Jamie Lenfestey
Additionally, Lenfestey notes, AMP Concerts, while having a proven track record in excellent promotions, remains an Albuquerque organization, whereas the Lensic’s deep roots in the Santa Fe community are obvious. Otherwise, Franke says, concertgoers should expect no discernible difference in programming. Even so, events like the Santa Fe Bandstand series are up for bid, and Lensic 360 plans to respond to a city request for proposals later this year.
Franke says he sees many positives on the horizon.
“It’s pretty much Jamie and I doing what we’ve been doing already, but with a Santa Fe organization,” he tells SFR. “The support system is amazing there; they’re total pros, they have an amazing team and board. Honestly? I feel great about it. We have the crown jewel of performing arts centers in New Mexico fully supporting us.”
AMP Concerts Executive Director Neal Copperman, meanwhile, tells SFR that AMP had already started preliminary work for potential Santa Fe Bandstand series shows prior to the announcement of Lensic 360, and will also bid to produce the Santa Fe Bandstand program. He further notes the nonprofit will continue to book and promote Santa Fe events.
“AMP’s schedule is full of killer shows in venues across Santa Fe, with plenty more in the works,” Copperman says in a written statement. “We wish Jamie and Tim well in their new endeavors and look forward to continuing to provide Santa Fe with plenty of great concerts in the future.”
Back on the Lensic front, Lenfestey has already announced a glut of upcoming shows, including Israel Vibration, Violent Femmes and Mary Chapin Carpenter. Music fans can expect more soon, he says. Information will be available at the forthcoming lensic360.org website.
“What we’re getting is the infrastructure and support of the Lensic staff and board and the full PR team, production team; everything” Lenfestey says. “If I can in some way help grow the Lensic, that will be profoundly meaningful to me.”
Aalberts certainly seems sold on the new opportunities.
“If we can be a part of the larger process, be engaged with all genders, all races, all walks of life—have things that touch you during the year...well, that’s exciting to be involved with,” he adds. “It’s part of what our community already offers, but it changes our communications, hopefully, so it’s not, ‘is there something going on tonight?’ it’s, ‘what’s going on tonight?’”
