Sonic portraits: From sax solos to a whip crack, NMPhil’s ‘Pictures at an Exhibition,’ an eclectic concert inspired by art

Guest conductor Alejandro Gómez Guillén has curated a dynamic evening of orchestral music for the New Mexico Philharmonic, which they will perform at Popejoy Hall on Saturday, Feb. 28.

The concert program, “Pictures at an Exhibition,” takes its title from Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky’s well-known 1874 composition of the same name, which was originally a piano suite. NMPhil performs Maurice Ravel’s bold 1922 orchestral arrangement of “Pictures” as their final piece of the evening.

Mussorgsky wrote “Pictures” as a memorial to his artist friend, Viktor Hartmann. Comprised of 10 movements and interspersed with a recurring Promenade theme, the suite evokes the experience of walking through an art show.

“Even the Promenade gets transformed as the journey goes on,” Gómez Guillén said. “You know how sometimes (when you’re at an exhibition), something captures your imagination, and you really stop and read all about it, then sometimes you’re just meandering about, and maybe you catch a glimpse of color on the side, and you go, ‘Oh, that’s cool,’ but you’re not necessarily going to stop. ... You kind of choose your own journey.”

Gómez Guillén, who is the director of orchestras at Arizona State University, expanded on the idea of an eclectic art stroll when choosing the other four pieces for the concert.

“They tie together in this idea of musical and sonic portraiture and different points of view,” he said.

The concert begins with the overture to Carl Maria von Weber’s 1821 opera, “Der Freischütz.” According to the program notes by David B. Levy, “the operatic achievements of Richard Wagner later in the 19th century would have been unthinkable” without Weber’s model.

“The overture is about nine minutes, and in those nine minutes, you have all kinds of drama and orchestral color,” Gómez Guillén said. “So, it really relates to this (theme) of picturing music.”

The second piece, “Escapades,” by contemporary American composer John Anthony Lennon, was written for soprano saxophone and orchestra.

“Lennon composed (‘Escapades’) in the times of COVID, when the world seemed to be closed and there was very little music to hear,” Marian Tanau, NMPhil executive director, said.

“Escapades” will spotlight guest saxophonist Christopher Creviston, whom Audiophile Audition magazine has called “one of the world’s top saxophone artists.”

Creviston’s saxophone will also feature in Michael “Mickey” Tucker’s 1978 jazz composition, “Portrait of a Peaceful Scene,” and the final piece of the evening, Ravel’s version of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.”

“Ravel loved the saxophone, so he featured it prominently in the Mussorgsky arrangement,” Tanau said.

“We don’t often hear saxophone showcased as a concerto instrument,” Gómez Guillén said, “so I thought this was a great opportunity ... for the audience to hear a different instrument.”

Ravel’s arrangement also calls for a large percussion section, including a gong, bells, glockenspiel and a whip.

“Sometimes percussion can get stereotyped as just banging on stuff and making noise, but this is very colorful and tuneful,” Gómez Guillén said.

The penultimate piece is Jessie Montgomery’s 2006 “Strum.” Montgomery, an acclaimed Black American violinist and composer, was named Classical Woman of the Year by the radio program “Performance Today” in 2025.

In her program notes, Montgomery describes “Strum” as a folk dance-inspired composition with a “narrative that begins with fleeting nostalgia and transforms into ecstatic celebration.” It employs extensive pizzicato (plucking) effects, suggestive of a banjo.

“There are moments that sound like banjos, mandolins and fiddles,” Gómez Guillén said. “It’s very rousing ... like a kinetic journey, and a beautiful way to showcase the strings in a different light.”

Gómez Guillén said he also feels drawn to New Mexico’s unique energy.

“I know it’s sort of a stereotype — The Land of Enchantment — but I do find that’s more than a slogan at the bottom of a license plate,” Gómez Guillén said. “There’s a special energy that’s hard to put into words but that’s spiritual and kind of unexplored and mystical.”

Gómez Guillén approaches conducting as a collaborative endeavor and said NMPhil’s musicians are excellent collaborators.

“If I were to be with the New Mexico Philharmonic in a couple months and do the same pieces — the exact same program — it would probably sound very different, even if we had most of the same musicians,” he said. “Again, that goes back to the idea of (collaboration) being dynamic and alive. I love that.”

In addition to conducting, Gómez Guillén is a devoted trail runner, and he likens the process of collaborating with an orchestra to running fast over rough terrain. Both activities require split-second decision-making.

“You have to adjust immediately so you don’t stumble, but that moment of adjusting is exhilarating, because you almost felt like you were losing balance, but you didn’t,” Gómez Guillén said. “I love to exist in that space of possibility.”

Logan Royce Beitmen is an arts writer for the Albuquerque Journal. He covers visual art, music, fashion, theater and more. Reach him at lbeitmen@abqjournal.com or on Instagram at @loganroycebeitmen.