Roger Melone is Music Director and Executive Director of the chorus, which is entering its seventh season with the name New Mexico Symphonic Chorus. The ensemble has been under Melone's direction since 1983 and was previously known as the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra Chorus. The chorus has gained national renown under Mr. Melone's artistic guidance. The volunteer members of the chorus are a diverse group. Among the singers, approximately 20 are professional musicians working in music-related fields, 38 hold degrees in music and nine maintain private teaching studios. All of the singers have studied voice, are currently studying voice or play an instrument. Some travel from as far as Santa Fe, Socorro, and Gallup to sing in the chorus. In 1999 the chorus received the Albuquerque Arts Alliance Bravo Award for Excellence in Musical Performance for its 1998 performances of Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. In 2006, Christopher Seaman, music director of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, invited the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra Chorus to perform Mozart’s Requiem with his orchestra at the 2006 Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival. Accolades from the audience, conductor, and orchestra were overwhelming, leading to return engagements in 2007, 2008, and 2011 to perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Orff's Carmina Burana with the Philadelphia Orchestra.