Festival, and the Santa Fe Opera. Taos is home to the Taos Solar Music Festival. June is the month for many festivals in New Mexico. Besides Taos Solar Music Festival at the end of June, there is Southwest Roots Music Festival, also called the Thirsty Ear Music Festival that takes place in the middle of June just outside Santa Fe at the famous western movie set. Festival features well-known artists representing the roots of folk, blues, bluegrass, and world music. The University of New Mexico's John Donald Robb Composers’ Symposium has been and continues to be one of the central contemporary music events in the US Southwest. The symposium began in 1972 when UNM Music Professor William Wood invited his former teacher, Norman Lockwood, to the campus, where his compositions were performed, along with the works of UNM music composition students. In 1999, the symposium was renamed the John Donald Robb Composers’ Symposium. The symposium is now presented jointly by the John Donald Robb Musical Trust and the UNM Department of Music. The Symposium brings international composers and performers to the University of New Mexico campus for four to six long days of concerts, seminars, masterclasses, and public talks. The numerous concerts and events are all made free to the public, making the Symposium an inclusive listening opportunity that welcomes in audiences and serves them entirely new sonic experiences, as well as showcasing the talents of UNM faculty and students, alongside national and international guest artists. Guest composers have included Robert Ashley, Milton Babbitt, Anthony Braxton, Martin Bresnick, John Cage, Raven Chacon, Chen Yi, Michael Colgrass, George Crumb, Julio Estrada, Lukas Foss, Lou Harrison, Alan Hovhaness, Karel Husa, John Harbison, Ernst Krenek, Libby Larsen, Lei Liang, John Lewis, Thea Musgrave, Pauline Oliveros, Hilda Paredes, Vincent Persichetti, Roger Reynolds, Ned Rorem, Maria Schneider, Gunther Schuller, Cecil Taylor, James Tenney, Joan Tower, Christian Wolff. Directors of the Symposium include: Christopher Shultis, Peter Gilbert, and Karola Obermüller. Another festival in New Mexico is Globalquerque taking place at the end of every September since 2005 at the Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque. It features music from all continents (folk/ethno/pop) as well as some Native American and Hispanic acts. Small venues Red River in Northern New Mexico hosts a Blues festival in early June, in addition to Larry Joe Taylor's Music Festival and Chili Cookoff. In Taos, the Taos Inn host nightly music performances. Musicians