Loveland, Colorado … Middle school students from Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, and Nebraska converged on Campion Academy for the annual Rocky Mountain Conference Music Festival, March 5-8. There, the young musicians made music with high school students for three days, with 300 students participating in various ensembles, including a large choir, an orchestra and a handbell choir.
Megan Michalenko, a senior at Campion who has attended this festival for the last nine years, commented, “Music Fest has been such a positive experience in my life and has given me the opportunity to grow my love for music.”
Beginning early Thursday morning and continuing until Saturday evening, Campion students shared their musical talents with the young visiting musicians.
On Friday, Campion’s music department gave a short concert for guests attending the music festival. Pastor Goetz, who shared a worship thought, encouraged everyone to “rejoice always, pray continually, (and) give thanks in all circumstances,” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
With Sabbath came performances. The church service began with a group of first through third-grade students, the Strings of the Rockies, and was followed by festival ensembles who shared the beautiful music they had been preparing.
“One of my favorite parts was everyone working together to form such a big sound,” Benjamin Maxson, a Campion student, remarked, “There’s nothing like hundreds of voices singing in unison to glorify God.”
Saturday night, ensembles played the last of their pieces before wrapping up the weekend.
Yves Clouzet, the music department director at Campion Academy, who plans this event, shared, “It gives me great joy to see the students improve over the course of the festival rehearsals. It means that all the things that went on behind the scenes to make sure these students could have the musical support they needed to be successful was 100 percent worth it.”
—Madi Jordan, text; photos by Darcy Force
