Southwest Collaborative Music Convergence 2026
August 28-30th
Flagstaff, Arizona
Photo by ACVILLA
Please join us for the 3rd Annual Southwest Collaborative Music Convergence! Spanning three days and two nights, this is a one-of-a-kind experience for musicians and audiences alike. Co-facilitators Thollem McDonas and the Interference Series have invited a wide variety of musicians from around the region to create unique sonic experiences that express the dynamics of the Southwest ecologically, socially, culturally, linguistically, and politically. We are grateful for the opportunity to bring together all of these exceptional artists who have spent their lives honing their craft through collaboration with others. Most of all, we are excited to share it with the community.
Please join us!
The Convergence is an extension of a concert held Feb., 2023 in Tucson that Thollem curated as part of the Peaceful Sky Benefit. PSB was organized in order to raise awareness of the increasingly dangerous exercises the U.S. military is conducting in the southern desert. Based on the enthusiasm of the participants and the audiences, it became clear that the Convergence needed to happen again. The artists for this year's Convergence includes musicians from the region at-large, as well as local musicians from Flagstaff and the Navajo Nation.
See/hear you out there!
A special thanks for funding support from Creative Flagstaff, the City of Flagstaff BBB Tax Revenue Fund,
and the NAU Honors College.
Artists (so far)
Abby Fisher (percussion), Al Faaet (percussion), Athena Bryant (percussion), Chad Kim (wildcard), Chelsey Trejo (multi- instruments), Chris Woodward (percussion), Drake Hardin (electronics), Eric Matchett (acoustic guitars), Ishta Paz (bass and sax), Jessie Demaree (winds), Lauren Sarah Hayes (electronics), lone eagle (voice/electronics), Marisa Demarco (voice/electronics), Marya Jones (voice/electronics), Michael Begay (guitar and effects), Owen Davis (percussion), Robert Neustadt (multi-instruments), Rosie Hutchinson (violin), Sage Bond (guitars), Sam, Somei Kundu (tenor saxophone), Steev Hise (multi-instruments) Teo Morris (violin), Vicki Brown (violin), and more tba soon...
Concerts & Happenings
Fri, Aug 28th
8:00 - 10:00 pm
'Sounding the Constellations'
BUFFALO PARK
Free
Sat, Aug. 29th
11:00 am - 2:00 pm
'Downtown Descensions'
DOWNTOWN
Free
Sat, Aug. 29th
8:00 - 10:00 pm
'The Southwest Collaborative Orchestra'
CCA
$20
(No one turned away for lack of funds)
Sun, Aug 30th
10:00 - Noon
Artist Talks
BEAVER ST THEATER
Free
Attending SWCMC
Ticket info coming soon
No one turned away for lack of funds.
During the 2025 Convergence we were lucky to be joined by many impromptu performers from diverse backgrounds. One of the most memorable guests was local Flagstaff Poet, Cathy Tompkins, who graciously read these works live alongside our many musicians. She has shared her work with us to be archived here along with future photos and recordings.
The Next Best Thing
I want to bring it to you, dear one,
To share even a modest gift
But chances are I’ll get it wrong
Not knowing your heart’s desire
Or more importantly
Finding it disagreeable
so
I will be content with
Bringing it to myself
My life, my purpose,
My contribution,
My next best thing
Might not measure up
To your expectations
So I have no choice
But to reject your yardstick
And proudly define my own
Shall I Play?
Once were fairies
Orbs
Mists
Green men
Dancing
To the music
Of hushed trees,
Click of beetle battle,
And march of ant fellows.
Around the fire,
We danced, too.
Wonder held us.
The stars in the skies
Walked us from season to season
But we danced
To make promises of
Those possibilities.
All dreams a certainty.
What we value
We sacrifice
Forgetting
But knowing deeply
Without fine finger tips
As if through a veil
Stardust always ours.
Only our fears
Well fed,
We lure
Implore
Invoke
Beg
Beseech
Petition and
Compel
Action on our behalf
While we figure out
How to endure
When there is not enough
Whatever
Making games of such beckoning
And basketed sacrifices.
Voiced now through muffled veil
Such soft bidding
Should we dance
We might still see fairies
Where the stars play.
Swings
Ups and downs
Ins and outs
Highs and lows
Bang or bust
Bull or bear
Order or chaos
Ignore the trough
Miss the point
See what's coming
Don't hold your breath
Be prepared for this ride
Hold your own close
Entropy weasles in
Plateaus give way to canyons
Mountains to sand
Confidence to fear
Harmony to dissonance
Friends becoming enemies
Entropy doing double time
Wondering darkly about
7 generations hence
Come back to this fire
Our strength in numbers
Shoulders ready
Now play
Play with sound
Play with possibility
Play with an eye to
Turning our sandcastle
Into a fortress
Improv
The very air vibrates
With the Next Best Thing
The only purpose of such wild creation
Voice meets voice
Sound meets sound
Noise meets noise
Some echo moments of time and space
Chaos a prankster
Ready to put a foot in the door
An entry to unexplored space in time
We hear through a muted veil of memory
Knowing that order is comforting
But change inevitable
Only fear trips trust
Then new rhythms restore it
Poems © 2025 by Cathy Tompkins
