Hey, Mozart! New Mexico is an annual composition competition for children 12 and under produced in collaboration among Hey, Mozart! New Mexico, the National Hispanic Cultural Center, the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, the Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra and elementary and middle school children and teachers.

The project invites all New Mexico children ages 12 and under to submit original melodies by March 31 of each year, from which sixteen will be selected, professionally orchestrated, and recorded on a CD. The selected composers will perform their melodies in a free concert at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque and then hear the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra perform the arranged versions for the first time. The Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra will present the Las Cruces composers in concert there.

Hey, Mozart! New Mexico’s core assumption is that music created by children, as opposed to children's music composed by adults, will help foster greater interest in, appreciation for and ownership of classical music among young people. Unlike most competitions that look for technical musical skills as well as expressiveness, Hey, Mozart! New Mexico does not even require that its composers know music notation. Instead, children may simply submit a recording singing or playing the melody. This opens up the project to many more children who feel the creative impulse but may not consider themselves students of music.

The project establishes a bridge between child composers and adults—students and professionals—who contribute their skills as arrangers, producers, and performers. Children see what music can mean for their lives be they amateur musicians, professional musicians or just avid listeners.

Goals of Hey, Mozart! New Mexico:

• Provide New Mexico children an opportunity for individual creative expression
• Allow children to participate in a professional music enterprise culminating in a CD and one or more live performances
• Have children co-create a music repertoire for children
• Make possible a life transforming experience for children initiated by their own independent music composition
• Promote music appreciation in children, especially those limited by geography, ethnicity, economics, or disability
• Advance statewide arts education and support music educators