Photo courtesy D’Ann ArtisBy Heidi Tanner
Special to The PREVIEW
The seventh annual Band-O-Rama is here. This Saturday night, April 21, brass will be blowing, drums beating and woodwinds and strings singing beginning at 7 p.m. at the Pagosa Springs High School auditorium.
The Band-O-Rama concert is hosted by the Pagosa Springs Community Band, which will be playing during the evening, but you will also be treated to concert band music performed by Pagosa Springs Middle School’s sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade bands and Pagosa Springs High School’s Jazz and Concert bands.
This year, Band-O-Rama will feature high school senior Carson Grose as the soloist. Grose has played in the percussion section of the Pagosa Springs Community Band since 2016, when his family moved to Pagosa Springs from Texas. In addition to percussion, Grose is an accomplished pianist and sings in the choir at Pagosa Springs High School.
In November 2017 Grose was the pianist for Curtain’s Up Christmas show “Elf Jr.,” a key position in the pit orchestra as the pianist is the anchor for the show’s music ensemble. This spring, Grose was the sole percussionist for Pagosa Springs High School’s production of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” which had him playing a multitude of different percussion instruments through a complex show.
Grose has the distinction of having auditioned for and been accepted in to both All State Choir and All State Band.
Dan Burch, music director at Pagosa Springs High School, related that only one other student in the history of our high school has achieved this honor.
High school students across the state of Colorado compete for the opportunity to play in these top-notch bands and choral groups and the competition to get in is stiff. Grose is recently returned from All State Band held in Greeley at the University of Northern Colorado from April 5-7 and said the experience was very rewarding.
At this Saturday’s Band-O-Rama concert, Grose will be playing “The Log Cabin Blues” by George Hamilton Green on the xylophone.
Grose will be accompanied by the Pagosa Brass Quintet, which is the Pagosa Springs Community Band’s featured small brass ensemble. The quintet’s players are Larry Elginer and Larry Baisdon on trumpet, D’Ann Artis playing horn, Dan Burch on trombone and James Kiker playing tuba. The xylophone is a fun percussion instrument and the piece will be enjoyed by listeners of all ages.
The Pagosa Springs Community Band and all the members of our student bands look forward to playing for you at Band-O-Rama this Saturday, April 21. This is a free concert. However, donations will be accepted with gratitude and a receipt can be provided to you for tax purposes.
Proceeds collected from this concert are shared equally between the Community Band, the Pagosa Springs Middle School Music Department and the Pagosa Springs High School Music Department. Your donations will help to build a stronger music education program in our Pagosa schools. Thank you in advance for your assistance and we look forward to seeing you at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 21, at the high school auditorium. The doors open at 6:30 p.m.
