Solo and Ensemble Fest

The annual solo and ensemble festival was last Friday afternoon. This year, our friends from HPHS were unable to attend, so it was a smaller, more intimate affair. We had five adjudicators who joined us to offer their expertise. As each time slot was 15 minutes long, there was plenty of time for them to work with the soloists and small groups. Many of the sessions turned into mini private lessons, with the opportunity to play the entire piece a second time. The judges were very complimentary about our students' preparation and professionalism, and I was very proud of everybody who performed. All of the Wind Ensemble students were required to perform in a chamber ensemble, and we had a wide variety of groups: flute trio, woodwind trio, 2 woodwind quintets, clarinet quartet, sax sextet, 2 trumpet trios, 2 brass quintets, low brass quartet, and percussion ensemble. The music ran the gamut from a Cuban cha-cha to Mozart to a piece mysteriously titled "The Octopus."

I was also very excited to see a number of students perform solos as well as auditioning for the orchestra concerto competition. What really made me happy, though, was having two ensembles each from the Concert and Symphonic Bands. The freshman horn and percussion sections both performed, as did a trio of junior trombones and the entire SB euphonium section. I hope that next year more CB and SB groups will take a risk and put together a group to work on chamber music. Students who do so gain greater musical independence as they work together to learn a piece of music, making all of the artistic decisions themselves. It's an important part of a truly comprehensive music education.