A young composer from Cortez is returning home this month to conduct the world premiere of a piece written for the city’s 140th anniversary.
Jadon Cruzan, a 2021 graduate of Montezuma-Cortez High School, recently earned a music degree from the University of Colorado - Colorado Springs, where he focused on composition.
His new work, Cortez Overture, will be performed by the Four Corners Community Band during a free anniversary concert on Saturday, August 15, at the Cortez Cultural Center.
Cruzan built the overture around the first melody he ever wrote, created while he was still a student in Cortez.
“When I wrote this, I knew nothing about music theory at all,” Cruzan said. “I just kind of went into my music notation software. I got my first one on my mom’s laptop, and I just started plunking things in.”
Cruzan said the early writing process involved repeatedly changing notes until he found something that sounded right. Returning to that melody years later gave him a way to measure how much he had learned.
“Hearing this melody in this new, transformed form is really cool,” he said. “It just makes me super proud of myself.”
The melody was originally written for Native American flute. In the completed overture, Cruzan said listeners will also hear Wild West-inspired rhythms and patriotic harmonies.
He said the piece reflects the different kinds of adventure he associated with growing up in Southwest Colorado, where trips to lakes, mountains and other landscapes were always within reach.
Cruzan described returning to the melody as part of a broader effort to revisit his roots after leaving Cortez for college.
He said his relationship with his hometown became more complicated after he moved away. At times, he felt there were limited opportunities for musicians in the area. But as he grew more confident in himself, he also developed a deeper appreciation for the community where he was raised.
“There was no other place that I wish I would have grown up,” Cruzan said.
Four Corners Community Band Director Karen Steele said the ensemble wanted to create something distinctive for a concert celebrating the anniversaries of the United States, Colorado and Cortez.
The idea of commissioning Cruzan emerged during a planning meeting. The band had previously performed a short march he wrote before attending college, and members were interested in hearing how his work had developed after studying composition.
Cruzan quickly agreed to write the new piece, Steele said, and the overture became the centerpiece of the concert.
The band has been rehearsing the work for several weeks. Steele said the musicians recently reached a turning point when the piece began to take shape as a full ensemble performance.
Preparing a world premiere is a privilege, she said, because the band is creating something no audience has heard before. The concert performance will also become the first live recording of Cortez Overture.
The anniversary concert begins at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 15, at the Cortez Cultural Center, located at 25 N. Market Street.
The free concert follows Native American dances at 6 p.m.
