25 Years of Music in the Desert

Our Vision is a community where everyone has the opportunity to engage with music, through learning, performing, or listening. We aspire to enrich lives and bring together diverse communities in harmony.

From Our President

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In a stark act of artistic censorship, the Watertown School Board in Wisconsin voted to ban an instrumental music piece from a high school spring concert. The work, "A Mother of a Revolution!", was composed by Omar Thomas to honor trans pioneer Marsha P. Johnson and the legacy of the Stonewall Uprising. Originally commissioned by the Desert Winds Freedom Band for the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, the piece features no lyrics—yet its historical dedication alone prompted conservative board members to brand it as "radical indoctrination". This political interference forced the Watertown Wind Symphony to scrap a challenging composition they had spent months mastering. In response, hundreds of students staged a massive walkout to protest the board's heavy-handed suppression of art.

Music can change the world because it can change people. (Bono)