Because music should be fun!

Weekend Festival ​
2020 Date TBD

4rd Annual Weekend Festival – Featuring Tom Miller! 

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About the Weekend

Join us in Denver for a fun-filled weekend of music with our special guest artist and clinician, Tom Miller. Tom is one of the premier steel band educators in the US but also a well known performer, arranger and compose.

Music

We are working on getting the music together right now. This should be completed by mid August. You’ll receive a link to download your music as soon as it’s ready.

Rentals

We do have a limited number of instruments available to rent including tenors, double tenors, double seconds, guitars and 6-basses. If you want to use one of our pans please contact Rick right away to make sure we hold one for you!

Performance

The final performance will take place at the South Pearl Street Farmer’s Market, Sunday, September 29. The festival band will play from 10:30 to 11:30 that day and the RMSB Mass Band will play the rest of the time at the Farmer’s Market.

Beginning Band

2019 has been a tremendous year for growth at RMSB and right now we have lots of folks who are just now getting started or who have only played for a couple months. To accommodate these folks and raw beginners we’ll have a separate group that meets in the back room. There are a lot of benefits that helps the less experienced musicians enjoy the weekend.
  • Directly work with Rick about 1/2 of the time
  • Join the full group for about 1/2 the time
  • Learn about 4 songs instead of 8-10
  • Plenty of 1-on-1 attention
  • Lots of time to ask questions
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Faculty

Tom Miller

Tom will be running rehearsals and do most of the teaching.
Tom Miller’s vast experience as a performer, composer, arranger and educator of steel drum music has made him one of the most respected and sought after steel drum soloists and clinicians today. Tom has performed worldwide with his own popular steel drum group Pan Ramajay, and other notable jazz and world music artists. Tom has added his unique style of percussive touch to numerous studio recordings covering a variety of musical styles with artists such as Grammy award winners, Allison Krause and the late John Denver. His playing is featured on film scores for the movies, Commando, Nina Takes a Lover, and the Mystic Masseur, as well as ads for Minute Maid, Sony and the popular SIMs computer games. Tom’s composing talents have earned him grants from the prestigious Meet the Composer Foundation five times over and his dedication to musical education has won Tom many invitations as an artist in residence at numerous universities and colleges throughout the U.S.

Rick Henson

Rick discovered the magic of steel pans after college, in 1999. Steel drums quickly became his greatest passion and he founded Rocky Mountain Steel Bands in 2003. RMSB has grown to offer classes and performing ensembles for all ages and abilities. Rick has also started 2 of his own professional ensembles, Strings & Steel and Urban Island. Hobbies? Free time? Nope, just lots of steel drums…

Schedule & Details

Meals

This part of Aurora is one of the most diverse areas in the US. You can find virtually any kind of ethnic restaurant you may want. Of course, there’s plenty of traditional places to eat as well. Simply put, there’s something for everyone within a 5 minute drive and many choices within walking distance.

Lodging

There are many good hotels close to the studio:
Intown Suites
2221 S Havana St, Aurora, CO 80014
(303) 283-8421
Radissan Hotel Denver
Southeast 3155 S Vaughn Way
Aurora, CO 80014
radisson.com

Schedule

Thursday Night
We’ll start the weekend with some hang time and getting to know each other.
Friday
We’ll rehearse most of the day but you’ll have plenty of time for lunch and some time in the evening to explore Denver. 
Saturday
We'll have the same schedule as Friday. We’ll make sure we are done by about 5pm so you can enjoy another great night in Denver.
Sunday
We’ll meet at the gig early to unload and get set up!

Location

The weekend festival will take place at: RMSB studio (10691 East Bethany Drive Aurora, Colorado Denver) is pretty much right across the street.

Our facility features two 800 square foot studios and even a small pan store with accessories like sticks and stands. September is one of the best times of the year to visit Denver or Colorado in general. The weather is perfect and the mountains are beautiful. The only thing to make it better is a weekend of steel band music.

Save your spot

The fees for the weekend festival are $275 which includes all the music, instruction, and the performance. We do offer an early registration discount through August 9.

Take advantage of this valuable early registration offer, and register by August 9.   Use code: early2019

Early Registration

$275
$ 250 Register by August 9
  • We do offer an early registration discount. Early registration has 3 benefits:
  • Save $25 – First 10 to enroll may use code: Save $25
  • Early digital access to the sheet music
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FAQs

A. All levels are welcomed to attend. Tom can work with raw beginners and pros.

A. No problem. First, if you’re a beginner you can do our beginner track and you’ll only learn about 4 songs.  Much easier! Also, if a couple songs are too hard for you, no problem, we need some percussion (engine room) on all the songs anyway!