Composer Raven Chacon relives his epic Albuquerque composition

Members of CoraLux slowly climbed to the top of the Black Volcano to perform this piece.

University Showcase, 2/17, 8:30a: On September 27, 2025, a large-scale musical composition unfurled over the course of a day across Albuquerque. It featured over 200 musicians playing 20 overlapping movements composed by Pulitzer Prize winning composer and University of New Mexico alum Raven Chacon, who also won a McArthur Foundation “genius” grant.

Chacon grew up in Albuquerque and started making music as a teenager, playing all over the city in unlikely places, like rooftops and the West Mesa…

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