Colorado State University – Pueblo opens Music Fest XI with free Children’s Concert 
 
PUEBLO – A free children’s concert on June 5 featuring dinosaurs, girls with 10 foot long names, bubble gum, best friends, baby gorillas, friendly monsters, the common cold and much more will kick start Music Fest XI, a five-week series of camps and concerts sponsored by Colorado State University-Pueblo. 
 
More than 150 children will receive educational instruction and performance opportunities during the Jazz, String, Piano, and Musical Theatre camps and an estimated 30,000 community members will have an opportunity to attend eight concerts at both on and off campus sites. In addition to pre-and post-camp concerts, Music Fest XI will premiere the Southern Colorado Mariachi Fest, a gathering of the region’s best high school mariachi bands, and will offer a single Children’s Concert as well as a July 4th Extravaganza.
 
Boulder resident Bonnie Phipps will perform at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 5 at the Sangre de Cristo Arts Center. Children 12 and under will be admitted free, while tickets for those 13 and over cost $3 per person. The concert is made possible by a grant from the Chamberlain Foundation. 
 
A funny, intelligent performer who began her career as a Head Start, Kindergarten and first grade teacher, Phipps won the National Autoharp Championship and released her first recording, "Autoharpin'", which featured the Autoharp, cello, guitar, concertina and pennywhistle. In 1984 Bonnie's group, "The Colorado Folk Ensemble", toured for Columbia Artist Management for three years and made a second recording. In 1987 Bonnie formed, "Bonnie Phipps & The Elastic Band,” a group that performs exclusively for family audiences. Since then Bonnie has won several national awards for her recordings for children, "Dinosaur Choir" and "Monster's Holiday", wrote another book/tape for Alfred Publishing called Singing With Young Children. In 1996, Phipps was named "Best Children's Entertainer" by Colorado Parent magazine's readers poll.
 
According to Phipp’s web site, these theatrical musicians create an exciting blend of music, which features Autoharp, bass, guitar, fiddle, mandolin, spoons and percussion plus strong vocal harmonies. Her gift for audience participation convinces you immediately that the "funnest" thing in the world is clapping, meowing, blowing kisses, swimming, making bubble gum stew, shaking pom-poms or singing along. The music is sophisticated and skillfully arranged yet the lyrics speak directly to your audiences and is clever enough to delight adults as well. 
For tickets, contact the Arts Center at 295-7200. For a complete schedule of Music Fest XI events, visit www.colostate-pueblo.edu/cmf or call 549-2126. 

 
  
Colorado State University - Pueblo is a regional, comprehensive university emphasizing professional, career-oriented, and applied programs. Displaying excellence in teaching, celebrating diversity, and engaging in service and outreach, CSU-Pueblo is distinguished by access, opportunity, and the overall quality of services provided to its students.