Last week students from several cities in Colorado traveled to CMU to participate in the annual Best of the West Music Festival. The festival involved classes, instrument sectional lessons and concerts over the course of three days.  The performances included guest artists and conductors, and featured a world premiere of “Monument” by Daniel Kellogg, which was created specifically to depict the landscape of western Colorado.

Best of the West was created in 2000 when it was originally named Colorado Senior Band Day and was only one day long beginning with 40 students. Now the three-day festival has grown to approximately 220 students.

“We have two bands that are full of students from all over the state and some are even from Utah,” Senior Music Education major Kristyn Pults said. “Every year we bring in bigger names and more and more students from all over. There has even been talk of moving to three bands next year because of the growing interest from high schoolers.”

Karen Combs has been a financial donor to the festival since 2002.

“Karen Combs is a wonderful donor to this festival and we couldn’t do it without her,” Pults said.

Pults explained that all of the music education majors are assigned jobs to ensure that the festival runs smoothly. She was in charge of music distribution, seating, assisting guests, and showing fellow students how to run the festival.

“It’s amazing,” Junior Music Education major Shaun Tatum said. “I participated in it when I was in high school and seeing it from the other end is a cool perspective. The amount of logistical organization and work that goes into it is no small feat.”

Tatum was on the setup crew this year. He assisted in setting up and tearing down the stage and rehearsal rooms as well as helped distribute music.

“The festival is a great recruitment tool for the university and the high school students have many opportunities to learn about CMU and get to know the music faculty at Mesa,” Pults said.

High school students have the opportunity to learn about CMU’s music department, in Moss Performing Arts Center.

“The department of music really has it figured out,” Tatum said. “CMU sets the standard incredibly high.”

lstroman@mavs.coloradomesa.edu