A logo for the Festival Orchestra de Las Cruces featuring a sun, purple mountain range, and musical staff with a treble clef, with text below reading 'Festival Orchestra de Las Cruces'.

Lonnie Klein

Music Director/Conductor

An elderly man in a white suit conducting a live band on stage, with musicians playing guitars, drums, and keyboards behind transparent screens, and music stands, in a dark theater setting.
An orchestra performing on stage, featuring musicians playing violins, cellos, and wind instruments, with a conductor guiding them.
An orchestra performing outdoors at night, with a conductor leading them
A group of musicians, including a person conducting, performing on stage at night with musical instruments and people in the audience visible.
Event poster for the Festival Orchestra de Las Cruces featuring a patriotic fireworks display, American flags, and portraits of conductor Lonnie Klein, pianist Ilya Yakushev, and narrator Fernando Macias, advertising a concert titled "Red White and Blue: All American Concert" on Sunday, September 6th at 3:00 pm at Atkinson Recital Hall, NMSU Music Building, with tickets costing $20.

Upcoming Concert Sunday, September 6, 2026 at 3:00 pm

Atkinson Recital Hall, NMSU Music Building

$20 Open Seating

A patriotic flyer with fireworks in the background, the American flag draped on the left and right sides, listing a repertoire of songs including Lincoln Portrait, West Side Story, Rhapsody in Blue, Superman March, Summon the Heroes, and Theme from Schindler’s List, emphasizing many audience favorites.
A patriotic flyer with fireworks in the background, the American flag draped on the left and right sides, listing a repertoire of songs including Lincoln Portrait, West Side Story, Rhapsody in Blue, Superman March, Summon the Heroes, and Theme from Schindler’s List, emphasizing many audience favorites.

Lonnie Klein

Dr. Klein had a long tenure as Music Director and Conductor of the Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra. He has guest conducted regularly with orchestras in Mexico, Canada, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Romania, Columbia, South America, and Spain. In 2012, Dr. Klein received the New Mexico Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, the state’s highest honor.

Music Director/Conductor

A middle-aged man with a bald head and a goatee, dressed in a white shirt with a black vest with white polka dots, smiling and looking at the camera against a black background.
Close-up of a young man with blond hair and blue eyes, wearing a black velvet jacket, posing against a dark background.

Ilya Yakushev

Russian pianist Ilya Yakushev has been described by the American Record Guide as “one of the very best young pianists before the public today, and it doesn’t seem to matter what repertoire he plays—it is all of the highest caliber.” He has performed all over the world, including more than 40 recitals in North America and Europe. He is the recipient of multiple awards and honors starting at the age of 12 and continuing throughout his career. In 2005, he won the World Piano Competition in Cincinnati, Ohio.

He will be performing Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” for Festival Orchestra de Las Cruces on September 6, 2026.

Guest Artist

Pianist

Festival Orchestra de Las Cruces

Advisory Committee

Close-up of an elderly woman with short, curly white hair, wearing a red leather jacket and a large red flower necklace, standing in front of a decorative wooden star sculpture.

Wanda Bowman

chair, Advisory committee

Wanda Bowman has a vision for expanding the opportunities for professional musicians and making classical music more accessible to residents in Southern New Mexico and surrounding areas. She gained a greater appreciation of the uplifting and inspiring value of the arts as her grandchildren started a ballet company and became professional singers and artists.

A long-time successful businesswoman and former owner of Ashley Furniture, Wanda Bowman has been a generous philanthropist to NMSU athletic and academic programs and non-profits throughout the community. In 2026, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from New Mexico State University.

A group of musicians performing on stage at night. One man in a pink and purple striped shirt is conducting or leading, with his arms raised. Other musicians are playing guitars and instruments, and there is a crowd watching.

Lonnie Klein

Lonnie Klein has had a passion for music since childhood. He has conducted symphony orchestras for more than three decades in the United States, Canada, Mexico, South America, and Europe. His repertoire is broad from classical music to pop. No matter the genre, he brings together professional musicians to thrill audiences with every performance.

He holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Illinois. His creativity led him to commission ten world premieres with the Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra at New Mexico State University during his tenure as the Music Director and Conductor of the symphony.

Music director/conductor
Full Advisory Committee

Lonnie Harrison, Assistant to Chair Wanda Bowman

Joy Zalkind, Personnel Manager

Jesus Candela, Librarian

James Gerwells

Staci C. Allen

Denise Cooper

Diane Schutz

James Gerwells

Barb Hubbard

Cris Salazar

Christa Slaton

Erin O’Donnell

Patricia Rothengrass

Ana Mangino Vaskov

Greg Smith

Deborah Knapp