Over the past few years the CMS band program has been awarded “Superior” ratings at the CBA (Colorado Bandmasters Association) Band Festival, Mile High Jazz Festival and UNC Jazz Festival. In addition, we were selected twice to perform at the CMEA (Colorado Music Educator Association) State Conference at the Broadmoor Hotel as the middle school jazz ensemble to represent the state. As a Band program, we have traveled to the Kansas City Jazz Festival, Jazz Educations Network (JEN) national conference in New Orleans, and played at Disneyland.
CMS Band Concerts 2025/2026
All concerts (unless specified otherwise) are at CMS in the Gym from 6-8pm. Students need to wear concert black - all black dress clothes, black shoes etc. (I strongly recommend looking at Mile High Thrift store as they have everything separated by color and you don't know how long they will fit in these clothes).
Important Dates:
March 18th (6th and 7th Grade Concert at CMS) 6pm
April 14th (7th/8th Concert Bands) CHSAA FESTIVAL
May 13th All Bands CMS Concert 6pm
Jazz Concerts/Festivals:
April 24th UNC Jazz Festival
May 5th Jazz Ensemble Performance at ECS banquet 6pm
May 19th Jazz Ensemble Performance at Dazzle with guest artist composer (and former CMS student Annie Booth)
Practice
CMS Band Students are expected to use their Smartmusic account to access music and practice tools throughout the year. Students are expected to practice 100 minutes per week and track their practice time in their method book (inside cover). This is the only homework given in this class and will make up about 1/2 of their total grade. Instructions for how to set-up Smartmusic accounts can be found in the students' schoology page.
Students will need:
An Instrument and a music stand (to use at home). Percussionists need a Mallet instrument (Xylophone/Bells, and Snare or practice pad) to use at home, and will need to bring stick bag with at least one pair of sticks (5a or 5b), yarn mallets, and plastic mallets!
Method book (Standard of Excellence book 1 (6th Grade),2 (7th Grade) or 3 (8th Grade), Jazz Ensemble Method (8th Jazz). Students will also be charged $15 fee on Pay-for-it for their Smartmusic subscription in which they will have access to all the method books and music.
3 ring binder with sheet protectors for sheet music and a pencil.