High school bands to play at Cortez library
The Journal
The next installment of Literary Fridays at the Library, the new, crowd-pleasing monthly event presented by the Cortez Public Library, will feature both the M-CHS Concert Band and the M-CHS Jazz Band on Friday, March 17 at 10 a.m.
This event is free and open to all. Refreshments will be served.
The M-CHS Concert Band, under the direction of Katie Zandowski, is made up of students wishing to continue their study on their instrument after middle school without the extracurricular demands of the advanced band. They are in the ninth, 10th and 11th grades. The band performs at various events in the community and plays at all high school band concerts.
Their next concert after Friday will be on Tuesday, March 28 at 7 p.m. at the Ralph Vavak Auditorium.
Rodney Ritthaler, band leader of Jazz 1, conducts the M-CHS group as they perform jazz and much more. The Jazz Band is made up of members of the Symphonic Winds, the top instrumental ensemble at M-CHS. There are 18 members of the group: four trumpets, four trombones, five saxophones and five in the rhythm section. Their repertoire features music from a variety of styles including swing, shuffle, Latin, rock, funk and modern jazz. They emphasize solo improvisation.
For more information, call 970-565-8117.
The Show Ponies, an indie/folk band with Old Country influences, plays at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Sunflower Theatre.
Striking a balance between old and new, joy and sorrow, rough and tender, the band has toured throughout the United States and have released three albums – “Here We Are!” (2012), “We’re Not Lost” (2013) and “How it All it Goes Down” ( 2017) – which have garnered over 14 million plays on Spotify.
The band was formed by Clayton Chaney and Andi Carder, who met in Los Angeles. The were joined by Jason Harris, who produced their debut album and later signed on as guitarist and banjo player. Fiddler Philip Glenn and drummer Kevin Brown soon followed, forming the five Show Ponies.
Doors and cash bar open at 6:45 p.m., and the music starts at 7:30.
Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. The Sunflower Theatre is at Main and Market streets in Cortez. More information: www.sunflowertheatre.
The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, a group of singing, strumming ukulele players, will take the stage at the Montezuma-Cortez High School Auditorium at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 8.
Founded in 1985, the eight-member orchestra has played more than 1,000 concerts all over the world.
“They extract more from their music than seems humanly possible,” the New York Times wrote.
For more information, contact Jason Witt at 570-9051 or Lindsay Havran at 565-7676. Doors will open for season ticket holders at 6:15 p.m. and 6:25 p.m. for presold tickets.
