THE BRAVOS AWARDS: An annual awards celebration that honors excellence in the Albuquerque arts community, the Arts Alliance Bravos Awards began in 1985 with 30 artists and friends in attendance. The annual awards dinner now attracts hundreds of guests and the recipients are honored throughout the year. Bravos celebrates the best in all of the arts disciplines: visual, dance, music, theater, and literary.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE
2009 Bravos Winners
  

Excellence in Music

Susan Kempter is an influential expert in violin instruction. Kempter’s publications, “Between Parent and Teacher: A Teacher’s Guide to Parent Education", "How Muscles Learn: Teaching the Violin with the Body in which Mind" and "Musical Activities for Preschool Children," are used by string teachers across the country. Her most recent book, “How Muscles Learn”, is currently being translated into Korean, Japanese and Spanish. She is a Registered Teacher Trainer with the Suzuki Association of the Americas and is nationally respected for her interdisciplinary work in music teaching and learning. As a faculty member at the University of New Mexico, she founded the String Pedagogy Program, that serves as a model for String Pedagogy programs across the nation. She also founded the UNM Lab School, a teaching lab for UNM pedagogy students and string education to children throughout the Albuquerque community. Susan has studied and collaborated with many of the biggest names in the world of violin pedagogy, including John Kendall, Leonard Felberg, William Starr, and Shinichi Suzuki, and is sought-after as a clinician and lecturer. A colleague calls her a “stellar and impassioned person, one who exemplifies the highest artistic and pedagogic virtues and who has served and will continue to serve the greater Albuquerque community in untold ways.” Beyond her expertise, she is recognized as a unique teacher. “Most impressive is the bond, trust, and love that she forges with each of her students,” the parent of one student wrote. Another student wrote: “I will always love her like my own family.”  
    

516 Arts / Suzanne Sbarge  These two figures—the arts space and the individual who directs it—are inseparable. Sbarge has long been one of the brightest stars in the arts community, known for successful leadership over many years with the Harwood Art Center and Magnifico. However, “it is with 516 ARTS that Suzanne has been able to fully realize her potential,” one supporter wrote. Letters spoke of “show after show of the highest artistic quality” that were cutting edge but also accessible, serving to “break down the barriers that too often separate people from art.” Founded by Sbarge in 2006, the downtown space has also been heavily involved in educational outreach, and artists admire the staff for its ability to meet complex challenges with enthusiasm, professionalism and good cheer. Sbarge remains a practicing artist whose energy and sacrifice are widely known. “She has created and facilitated a venue where these disparate communities can come together in deep and meaningful discussions,” another supporter wrote. “She brings national and statewide attention to Albuquerque arts with diverse visual, literary and performing arts programming that address key social, political and ecological issues,” another said. As another fan summed it up: “I can only say that both 516 ARTS and Suzanne Sbarge are exactly what the Bravos Awards were created for—recognizing outstanding contributions to the arts community.”
   

Leonard Madrid's nominators wrote of his “outstanding contribution to excellence in the theater arts” through his development of new programs, his playwriting, his production, and his volunteerism. His story will inspire other young people to become involved in the arts. Madrid has won the National Latino Playwriting Award three consecutive years as part of the National College Theater Festival at the Kennedy Center. (“This is unheard of!” according to a colleague.) At the University of New Mexico, Madrid helped to produce the Words Afire! Festival and reached out to students through an innovative theater festival for high schoolers. He also mentors young people with an interest in the field. Madrid, who acts and is part of the Blackout Theater Group in addition to having written nearly two dozen plays, received his MFA in Dramatic Writing in spring 2008. One colleague described his abilities: “Young women, hip and cool at the start of the reading, were drawn into his world and wept as they played through scenes in the play.” Another wrote, “I’ve had the privilege of working with the best theater artists all over the world … Leonard is of the very highest class.”   
 

Photographer and businessman Pat Berrett “has served as teacher, photographer, juror, board member and all-round supporter of the visual, dance and theatre arts in both the private and public sectors of our community.” Berrett helps others learn skills to advance themselves as artists, such as teaching them (often for free) how to photograph their own work or how to market themselves as artists. He is himself a nationally recognized fine art photographer and digital photography teacher in the UNM Continuing Education Department who has “inspired many students to pursue their dream in photography.” And yet Berrett “magically meets the demands of his workload no matter how stressful,” still finding hundreds of hours each year to help numerous arts organizations with photographic work saving them thousands of dollars. “Because of his attitude, kindness, professionalism and generosity, he soon became the person seen at EVERY art event and benefit … as a volunteer chronicler of the cultural events of our community … He is a treasure -- appreciated but unsung, beloved but not celebrated. Now is our opportunity to give back to this lovely, giving individual who, in the spirit of art and community, never says ‘no.’” The directors of numerous organizations wrote in support of his nomination. One comment seems to sum up their feeling: “By being such a professional, he makes my job so much easier … he is a wonderful, kind, considerate, responsible, respectful, inspiring person to work with.”
  

The University of New Mexico Music Prep School is now in its 16th year of providing music education, with a focus on excellence, for children from birth through 8th grade. Administered since its beginning by Diane Bonnell, its instructors are certified music teachers who help students learn a wide range of musical skills including general music, piano, marimba, drums, guitar, Suzuki violin and choral music. Donor-sponsored tuition support has always been available for qualified students ensuring a diverse student population and affordable rates. Families, including parents and grandparents, participate with their babies and toddlers—demonstrating their emphasis on “very early” music training aimed at creating a lifelong appreciation for music. In collaboration with the UNM Music Department, the program creates professional training opportunities for faculty, students and music teachers. More than 560 students are enrolled this semester. “The Music Prep School fills an important void in the early childhood music community of Albuquerque,” one teacher noted. "Supporters describe a happy scene of hundreds of children flowing into and out of the UNM Center for the Arts each Saturday. “If you look closely … you will most likely discover smiles on their faces, as they eagerly anticipate the profound joy they experience as they make music.” One parent explained, “The UNM Music Prep School has made a big difference in my child’s life. It has given her an opportunity to learn the art of music, which she loves so dearly, in a professional environment. We would never have been able to afford to send our daughter to a quality music school without all the help and support from UNM Music Prep School!”
 

Opera Southwest has been at work for 36 consecutive seasons mounting outstanding productions and enhancing the community through its educational programs. Its nominator stressed the “remarkable” quality of its productions, helping the Opera find critical acclaim, greater fundraising success, and growing audiences. With award-winning artistic and musical leadership, a dedicated board and experienced technical staff, the organization has successfully married the talents of regional and national artists. It has written, designed and produced special operas that delight and educate Albuquerque children. It has encouraged older students to attend complete operas whose presence causes a heightened sense of audience excitement. The company has produced classic pieces such as “La Boheme” and “The Marriage of Figaro” and contemporary productions such as “Susannah” and “Regina,” providing New Mexicans a fresh perspective on the genre. “I have been amazed at the level of excellence this company has demonstrated over the past few years,” a critic wrote recently. “In its nearly 40-year history, Opera Southwest has produced more than 100 versions of more than 70 operas,” one member of the pit orchestra wrote in support. “The continued superior quality of productions and the steadfast leadership of seasoned professionals,” he wrote, “provide an invaluable asset to the musical fabric of Albuquerque.”
  

Dr. Christopher Mead is an historian, teacher, administrator and community volunteer who is playing a central role in building the cultural infrastructure of tomorrow as our community adapts, changes and grows. Working with representatives from local non-profits, educational institutions, businesses, and government, he retained the UNM Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) to produce a report in 2006 on the economic importance of the arts and cultural industries in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County. As a result of this report, Dr. Mead joined a leadership team that is currently developing the basis for an Arts & Cultural Industries Action Plan for the Mid Rio Grande Region. A professor at the University of New Mexico since 1980, he is a Presidential Teaching Fellow with a joint faculty appointment in the School of Architecture and Planning and the College of Fine Arts. A past president of the Society of Architectural Historians, he has written and lectured widely on European and American architecture and urbanism, including on the New Mexican architects Bart Prince and Antoine Predock. As Dean of the College of Fine Arts from 2004 to 2009, Dr. Mead helped to establish a new Interdisciplinary Film and Digital Media Program. He is also a dedicated community member who has served locally on the boards of the Arts Alliance, the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, the Albuquerque Youth Symphony, the Robb Musical Trust, and 516 Arts. Dr. Mead represents both the heart and the intelligence of a community that recognizes that it is not truly complete, not truly successful unless arts and culture are informing the important policy decisions of the day.