The Concert Without Borders, is a unique bi-national celebration of arts, music and community.

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The idea was first conceived by musician and Cochise College music instructor Lori Keyne, who is choir director of the Bi-national Chorus “Música Sin Fronteras,” which she launched in 2005. Along with her husband, Seth Polley, and other local activists and performers, the dream of “transcending the border” grew into annual concerts.

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In this event, musicians and communities gather at both sides of the U.S./Mexican border, divided by a political barrier but united by something greater: the gift of music and dance as well as the transformative power of creativity and spirit. We come together not to protest but to harmonize, combining the beat in musical time with the strong beat of hearts committed to the common good.

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The concert provides an outstanding example of public art, which incorporates Dance, Music, and Visual Arts.

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The Concert Without Borders has taken place simultaneously in the states of Sonora and Arizona, immediately to the west of the Douglas/Agua Prieta port-pf-entry in the cities of Douglas, Arizona and Agua Prieta, Sonora.

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The audience has included the borderland communities of Bisbee, Douglas, Sierra Vista, Elfrida, Agua Prieta, Naco, Cananea, Hermosillo, Phoenix, Tucson, and farther afield.

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This event is free and open to the public.

The Concert Without Borders began in 2012, expanded during the years 2014 through 2019, and was performed virtually in 2020 and 2021. We moved to the towns of Naco in 2022 and include visual and virtual participation at our live event.

From initial planning through performance, the Concert is a collaboration involving a broad range of community and government actors on both sides. BNAI has worked with the cities of Douglas, Agua Prieta, the Mexican Consulate and Cochise College.The concert continues to be an important means of building bi-national trust and working relationships that can be carried over to other community-building educational and cultural activities. Musicians and dancers from both sides of the international wall perform at the same time. The event has attracted national press and visitors from as far as Hermosillo and Phoenix. It inspired a similar concert on the border of Tijuana in 2017, as well as a concert performed in Agua Prieta, Sonora, by the Mexican Federal Police Band and a mariachi group from Mexico City.

Since 2012, more than 140 artists have performed in this event.

Performers have included world-renowned classical guitarist Dieter Hennings, Coral Desierto; Agua Prieta’s Orquesta Municipal with Maky Hernandez; the Binational Chorus “Música Sin Fronteras”; singers from Universidad de Sonora in Hermosillo; Tin Can Tourists; Cochise College Orchestra with Callie Hutchison; the Essential Elements, with John Cordes, Caitlin Strachan, Evan Waters, Francisco Barrios, Cleve Jones, Dieter Hennings and Lori Keyne; the Orlando Suárez Blues Band; Dan Simonis & West Texas Millionaires; members of the Orquesta Sinfónica of Hermosillo; Nuevo Mundo Early Music Ensemble; Grupo Sin Miedo; Lowell Middle School Band; and others.

The Concert Without Borders will return on September 30, 2023 spanning the border between Naco, Sonora and Naco, Arizona. The concert will include performers from Mexico, the U.S., Japan, Panama and other locations. 

Your donations will help with expenses relating to the production of this free concert.