Nacha Mendez, a nationally acclaimed singer, composer and New Mexico State University alumna, has been selected by New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham as one of seven influential artists to receive the 2025 Governor’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts.
This award celebrates New Mexico’s diverse artistic traditions and the artists that make them accessible to their communities. Mendez, who is also known as Margarita Cordero and is an enrolled member of the Chihene Nde Nation of New Mexico, performs her original, pan-Latin-style songs under her grandmother’s name. She’s also executive director of the Nacha Mendez Music Scholarship, which supports young girls with a passion for music through scholarships, music education and mentorship.
“I consider making music a sacred act—not in a religious sense, but in how it connects me to something beyond myself,” she said. “When I create, I try to stay open, to become a vessel for whatever wants to come through. As I’ve gotten older, I continue to find new ways to interpret songs or try different rhythms on guitar. That joy never leaves.”
Mendez grew up on a farm surrounded by the border towns of Texas, New Mexico and Mexico. She drew early inspiration from the sounds of the Mexican radio her family played on their road trips. For her, crossing borders between towns and countries was a normal part of life.
“That experience gave me an open mindset and a flexible sense of identity,” she said. “That profoundly influenced my approach to music.”
Mendez’s love for music began when she first picked up the guitar at six years old. When one of her fingers was severed in an accident in the first grade, she kept playing despite the pain.
“The guitar became more than music. It became medicine, a way back to myself,” she said. “What once brought pain now grounds me—it’s where I feel most alive. The pain and healing became the foundation of my expression.”
Mendez has learned and performed many different styles of music. She learned traditional Ranchera canción from her grandmother, studied classical voice and electronic music at NMSU, flamenco guitar in New York City and was a principal singer in Robert Ashley’s opera company.
In addition to the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Arts, Mendez has been awarded a New Mexico Platinum Music Lifetime Achievement Award, a National Endowment for the Arts Award, a fellowship from Mutable Music in New York and was recognized by the New Mexico Committee of the National Museum of Women Artists.
“Receiving this award is a big deal,” Mendez said. “While I’m still growing, it feels really meaningful to be recognized for the time, effort, and heart I’ve put into making music. Thank you to everyone who made this award possible—and to our Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham.”
“Something in me is shifting, and it feels like I’m standing on a new foundation. A foundation no longer built on pain,” she added. “I don’t know exactly what’s next, but I welcome the next chapter of making music—however unknown or uncharted it may be.”
-30-
CUTLINE: Nacha Mendez, a.k.a. Margarita Cordero, is one of seven artists to receive the 2025 Governor’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts. (Photo courtesy of M. Cordero)
