SOCORRO, N.M. – A free concert at New Mexico Tech’s Macey Center will highlight the musical capacity of the double bass. The Presidential Chamber Music Series will feature Eric Sewell’s “Nomad Ensemble” Friday, Oct. 21, at 7:30 p.m. The concert also will be broadcast live on Facebook and YouTube.  

Eric Sewell, a Socorro resident and violinist, put together the ensemble, which includes Thomas Green on the double bass, Carla Kountoupes on the violin, Jeffrey Smith on the viola, and Lisa Donald on the cello. This concert’s program will especially highlight the double bass in a work the quintet will perform recalling Austrian composer Franz Schubert and German composer Felix Mendelssohn. The double bass is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument.

The “Nomad Ensemble” members are:

• Eric Sewell holds degrees in violin performance and musicology from the University of Alabama and Columbia University and is an alumnus of the Alabama School of Fine Arts. He has performed in orchestras across New Mexico, plays in Albuquerque regularly, and is the assistant principal second violinist of the El Paso Symphony Orchestra. Sewell is also a paper sculptor with a handful of commissions and a solo exhibition under his belt. He enjoys hiking and occasionally runs triathlons. His violin, “The Traveler,” was especially made for him.
  

  

• Thomas Green, the featured double bass player, began teaching strings in Santa Fe Public Schools in 2019. He served for 25 years as principal bass of the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra and as a music teacher in the Ledyard Public Schools. His teaching duties in the 2022-23 academic year will include the string programs at Aspen Community Magnet School and Mandela International Magnet School. Green, a native of Columbus, Ohio, began his musical career in elementary school as a cellist. He holds a master of science degree in music education from the University of Connecticut and a certificate of advanced studies administrative degree from Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut.
  
  

  

• Violinist Carla Kountoupes is a member of the Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra, Arizona Opera Orchestra, Santa Fe Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, and Piazzolla da Camera Piano Trio. She has toured and performed professionally with orchestras and chamber ensembles in Central America, Taiwan, Germany, and all over the United States, including as a member of the New Century Chamber Orchestra in San Francisco and the Costa Rican National Symphony Orchestra. Kountoupes holds a master of music degree in music teaching. She has taught private violin lessons for more than 25 years and is currently on faculty at the New Mexico School for the Arts as string orchestra director and applied violin instructor. She is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory with a degree in violin performance and Oberlin College in Ohio with a degree in English literature. She inherited her violin, which was made in the 1740s, from her grandfather.
  
  

  

• Jeffrey Smith is a modern and period violinist and violist. As a period musician, he has been seen with the Orchestra of New Spain, Austin Baroque Orchestra, Santa Fe Pro Musica Baroque Ensemble, Jeune Orchestre de l’Abbaye, the Bloomington Bach Cantata Project, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Parish House Baroque, Utopia Early Music, Great Basin Baroque and Several Friends Early Music In The High Desert. Smith has also performed with the Santa Fe Pro Musica Orchestra Chamber Orchestra, San Juan Symphony, New Mexico Philharmonic, Chatter ABQ, Opera Southwest, and the Santa Fe Symphony. He has also served as a principal violist for the Pueblo Symphony in Colorado. Smith received his performers diploma in early violin and viola from the Historical Performance Institute of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, and obtained his master’s of music degree in violin from New York University. He earned a bachelor’s of music performance degree from Brigham Young University.
  
  

  

• Lisa Donald, cello, is an Albuquerque native, having played cello in New Mexico for over 20 years. Her musical studies as a young adult took her all over the Southwest, and to Miami, Florida and Kansas City, Missouri. After living and performing in New York City, she returned to Albuquerque to be near family and has been playing with regional orchestras and Opera Southwest, as well as producing and performing in smaller chamber and solo recitals. She teaches cello privately.

The Presidential Chamber Music Series, which sponsors several free concerts each season for New Mexico Tech students and community members, began more than 30 years ago, conceived by Adam Gonzalez, a faculty member in the New Mexico Tech Music Program under Director Michael Iatauro. The tradition continues with sponsorship by New Mexico Tech President Dr. Stephen G. Wells. The next free community concert in the series will be “Camerata Del Sol” on Friday, Jan. 27, 2022, featuring a seven-member string ensemble. More information is on the Performing Arts Series (PAS) website page: https://www.nmt.edu/pas/