“When you receive a gift like the Colorado Music Festival, you want to say thank you.”
—Festival supporter Julie Kaewert
Julie Kaewert has been bringing her family to Colorado Music Festival concerts since her daughters were very young. “They were very special nights for us as a family,” she remembers. The Kaewerts loved to dress up and enjoy a picnic on the lawn. “And then there was the magic of the concert,” Julie recalls fondly. “Big family memories.”
Julie’s daughters each chose instruments to study from a young age.
As much as she loves the Festival experience, Julie wanted more than to simply entertain her daughters. “Taking them to concerts and giving them music as part of their life experience was a very important part of helping them become people, full people,” she explains. “When you hear that amount of music, as our girls did growing up, I think it gives you a breadth of perspective. You meet all those depths of feeling, hear all those different cultures. It gives you a greater understanding of others, a way to cope with your feelings. Music helps you dream.”
Julie’s daughters are adults now, but they still make the time to attend Festival concerts as a family. “It’s a beautiful constant, almost like Christmas or Thanksgiving,” she says. “It’s a treasured family tradition that we would not miss.” Music has contributed to the Kaewerts’ strong bond; in Julie’s words, they share “a common language and a common feeling.”
The Kaewerts support the Festival in many ways — for instance, they attend regularly and often bring friends and visitors — but they find it important to make financial contributions as well. “When you receive a gift like the Colorado Music Festival, you want to say thank you,” Julie explains. “Also, you really want to preserve that for other people and other families, to make sure it lives on. It’s our responsibility to step up.”
When one of her daughters chose to study harp, Julie learned to play too!
Julie appreciates all the donors that have come before her, who have made sure the Festival has continued for generations and was available for her family. “If we can, we would like to help it carry on,” she says.
Has the Festival played an important role in your life? Consider making a donation to the Colorado Music Festival to ensure today’s families’ and future generations’ access to the bonding experience of our incredible music continues.
To help preserve the Festival, please visit coloradomusicfestival.org/support.
With gratitude,
Elizabeth McGuire | Executive Director
