“Flute choir,” Mr. Childs said, making us give our full attention to him. “Division one.” I turned to see the smiling faces of my ensemble, their eyes glimmering with happiness. Our hard work had paid off. We advanced to state.

Solo and Ensemble is a competition where bands in the district come together and compete to reach state. It is either a person alone or a group of three or more people. Each soloist or ensemble chooses a piece of music to compete with. The acts practice when they can until competition day. The divisions, or scores, range from one to four, with one being the highest you can get.

Solo and Ensemble can be often confused for a concert. Despite the fact that you play to impress the other people around you, solo and ensemble is a competition. Not only do you play for one single stranger instead of a crowd, but you play either by yourself or with a chosen few.

Solo and ensemble is difficult for both students and teachers.

“The most stressful part of solo and ensemble is organizing so many different groups,” band director Meghan Lockwood. “We had over a dozen different ensembles that needed to schedule times for all members of the group to rehearse together. The flu season hit us hard which made it even more difficult to find times for everyone to be able to rehearse at the same time.”

Solo and Ensemble offers a personalized experience because you can pick a piece that appeals to your strengths.

“Solo and Ensemble makes you a stronger individual player,” Lockwood said. “The division one ensemble requires every participant to be a stronger rhythmic counter, confident player, and mature musician. Your part is the only one like it, so if you don’t play it the whole ensemble suffers. There is more pressure on the individual than in a typical band setting. Learning to play in small ensembles with 3,4, or 5 players is probably our hardest event because it is the most student led activity all year.”