Santa Fe's Top Arts & Music Attractions

There are few opera houses in the world where art and nature converge in such dramatic style. The striking, state-of-the-art home of the Santa Fe Opera has a nearly 360-degree panorama of breathtaking desert and mountain scenery, eclipsed only by the international talent that sweeps across its stage each summer. The Gala Opening Weekend is the signature event, a four-day celebration with a black-tie ball, private dinners in some of Santa Fe's most beautiful homes, and brunch in the lovely gardens of the Nedra Matteucci Galleries. Dates are July 3 - August 29, 2009.

Learn how to take National Geographic-quality pictures from the experts themselves on a fascinating week-long On Assignment Photography Workshop offered by National Geographic Expeditions. With New Mexico's radiant light and desert scenery as the backdrop, leading photographers will offer personal tuition and mentoring with daily location shoots, photo assignments and critiques of your work. The workshops are geared primarily to digital photography—you'll need to take your own camera, laptop and editing software—and include additional instruction on downloading, saving, archiving, cropping and sizing images. From $2,995 per person.